


Miracles

by TheTorturedHero



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Backstory, Bottom Gavin Reed, Cat Lover Gavin Reed, Drama, Elijah Kamski & Gavin Reed are Siblings, Emotional Baggage, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Eventual Happy Ending, Eventual Smut, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, M/M, Romance, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Top Upgraded Connor | RK900, When I Put Slow Burn I Meant That Shit
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-16
Updated: 2019-02-19
Packaged: 2019-08-02 22:22:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 78,122
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16313762
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheTorturedHero/pseuds/TheTorturedHero
Summary: “The universe is big. It’s vast and complicated and ridiculous. And sometimes, very rarely, impossible things just happen and we call them miracles.”— The DoctorGavin Reed has never been shy about who he is. He's an asshole. He's stubborn. He's not one to bite his tongue. But now, things are changing in Detroit.Elijah Kamski has regained control of Cyberlife, for the better he says.Androids are as free as they wish and, so far, the city is once again at peace... or as much as it was before the robots tried to take over anyway.And now, the station is about to welcome a new android into the ranks.Gavin Reed never expected his life to end up this way, but really if he was honest with himself, maybe things could be worse?





	1. The Beginning.

**Author's Note:**

> Good Autumn all!   
> This is my Reed900 fic that I have been working on for months now and let me tell you, it's crazy! This fic started as a one-shot and just got WAY out of hand. 
> 
> Basic notes to go in with:   
> Detroit has been re-opened to the human race for three months.   
> I've combined the endings of the game a little here, so some canon events are kind of mixed together.   
> Gavin and Elijah are half-brothers, more on that will be revealed in the story.   
> Elijah had taken back over Cyberlife.   
> Markus led a successful peaceful revolution gaining free will for Androids.   
> No one died! Very important to note.   
> Hank and Connor have the best relationship. I have left it free to interpret, so if you wish for them to be together, then you may read it that way. If not, that is also fine. Their status is left blank for you to imagine. 
> 
> That is all you need to know. So, without much further ado!   
> Please enjoy the Reed900 ride.   
> <3

**“The universe is big. It’s vast and complicated and ridiculous. And sometimes, very rarely, impossible things just happen and we call them miracles.”**   
**— The Doctor**

 

Feb. 12th. 2039. 

It was going to be a shit day. He knew it. Wanna know how he knew it? 

Because he’s started his day by falling out of bed, yup, straight up and onto the floor. Cracked his knee a little on the hardwood floor and scared the shit out of the cat with the streams of curses that had fired from his mouth.

The cat in question had then proceeded to ignore him, quite brutally too, even snuffing away his apology treats, and had spent all morning perched on his balcony staring off across the city, as if he were dreaming of a better life. One where his owner didn’t rudely awaken him by throwing himself on the ground and yelling for three minutes straight about it.

Gavin understood, but he was still bitter about it. Plus, he lived alone so no one could judge him for flipping his cat off through the glass door as he left for work with no goodbye.

His knee ached and no amount of coffee was going to help the after effects of being rudely awakened, even if it was by himself, and clear the drowsy feeling now creeping up on him, reminding him that maybe going to bed at four when you have to be up at eight wasn’t the best idea he’d ever had.

Biting back another yawn he pulled into his space in the precinct lot and maybe slammed his door a little too hard as he sulked to the elevator. Fuck the stairs. Not today.

Tina greeted him with her usual wit and charm by throwing an empty Starbucks cup at him - and scaring the shit out of him - the second he stepped foot into the station.

“Fuck you, all day.” was all he could muster as she laughed at his sulking scowl and handed him a real, hot and possibly toffee flavoured, coffee.

“I thought you’d have a little more cheer today, I see you limping.” She had the audacity to wink at him. “Long _and_ rough night?”

Gavin groaned and took a long, long drink. “I wish.”

She laughed and bumped him with her shoulder as they walked toward the bullpen, she even held the gate open for him as he stumbled through. “So, who fucked you up then? Don’t tell me you went back to that dick-”

“Trust me-” Gavin held up his hands and stopped dead in front of her. “-There was no dick, literally or metaphorically.”

“Boo.” She replied plainly, taking a drink from her own cup and showing him forward. 

They walked towards the desks, barely making it to his own seat when his name was yelled across the room. He mustered as much of a fuck he could and looked up at Fowler waving him over to his office with one swift move of an arm. Tina made a noise next to him that was akin to a squeak and he shut his eyes tightly as she threw her arm onto his shoulder, leaning maybe a little too heavily on him.

“What did you do now?” She was far too happy about this.

“Fuck if I know, there’s always something.” Tina tutted and gave his ear a flick, he flinched away and swatted at her arm as she chuckled to herself, pointing her coffee at him.

“You tell me later.”

He simply waved her off as she walked away, heading towards the back rooms, presumably looking for her own partner. Gavin sighed and set his cup down, before slugging off his jacket and making his way towards the great glass office.

Fucking stupid design if you asked him. Almost soundproof didn’t make up for shit when you could see everything happening, and Gavin talked with his hands, people knew what he was saying just by looking at him. Fucking stupid design.

Stairs were not supposed to be on the agenda today, his knee reminded him as the throbbing kicked in as he climbed them to the door. He pushed back a wince as he opened the door, glass swinging open with a soft click.

“Sit down, Reed.”

“Morning to you to captain.” He grumbled but did as he was told. He got a sharp look for his efforts but no word back so he took the small victory.

“You’re moving to Narcotics.” Sharp and quick, thanks Fowler.

“What? Why?” he scowled back and Fowler simply sighed.

“Homeside is too busy, Connor and Hank are pretty much running the show. Chris is their helping hand and everyone else has a case. You are the only one free right now.”

“So? Give me one of their cases and let them deal with it, I’m not going around _poking_ at junkies all day.” he huffed and the captain gave him a tired look.

“Trust me, you’re not my first choice. With your attitude and lack of social intelligence I’m fully aware that you are better suited to dealing with dead guys.”

Alright, Fowler 1 : Gavin 0, but still, ouch.

“Thanks for the confidence boost, Captain.” he grumbled and looked out across the bullpen, making eyes with Tina across the room who was.... staring. Wide eyed. At the office.

That wasn’t good. He looked back to Fowler before double taking back to Tina who was now staring, eyes wide with a hand over her mouth.

So, very not good.

“Am I missing something?” he asked drawing his attention to the captain who was now looking at him like he was a loaded gun. “Am I being demoted because let me tell you, I’m _not_ the guy to fucked with the coffee machine, that was Ben and I can prove it-”

“Reed,” he was silenced with a raised hand. “Stop. And I _know_ it was you, I have the _footage_!” Gavin went to defend himself when the hand raised again. “I don’t give a shit.”

Gavin shook his head, handing fidgeting in his lap. “So, what? I’m going undercover?”

“No. You’re not that lucky, and neither is your partner.”

Gavin paled, he sat forward in his chair, hands waving a little madly in front of him as Fowler gave him a hard stare. “Woah, no. No way, you know I can’t stand working with others. Chris can tell you that for  _days_.”

“Gavin.” Oh boy, first named. He was in trouble. “It’s out of my hands.”

Gavin moved to argue, something snappy about the FBI coming in and fucking shit up again. No way he was talking to that prick Perkins, even if he had been the one to pick his ass up from the floor - thanks Connor - when the door clicked open.

For a moment he heard the unmistakable sound of Anderson cackling before it slipped shut. Oh, fuck this day. He'd seen the shadow approaching the box in his peripheral, but he’d refused to make eye contact with the poor fuck who’d have the displeasure of working with him for however long, just on principle.

But now, he daren’t look back. If he was as good a detective as he hoped he was; if he was half as smart as he knew he was, he knew exactly what that slight blue glow reflecting in Fowlers terminal was behind him.

“No.” was all he managed, the smug and sly dig at the FBI melting away and leaving him with nothing. “Don’t do this to me.”

“Sorry Reed.” Fowler shrugged at him, clearly ignoring his panicked face as he shook his head. “Cyberlife is back in running order, and they are sending out all the remaining models left.”

Gavin felt like he was going to be sick.

“Detective Reed,” It spoke behind him and Gavin did his best not to flinch. “I’m the android sent by Cyberlife...” He blinked. Wait a minute... He knew that voice... Oh, if there was a God, it hated him.

“ _Fowler_...” 

“This is RK900,” 900? Gavin scrunched his nose as Fowler gestured behind him. “He’s going to be your partner.”

Gavin refused to look behind him as he contemplated his options. Everyone knew he hated androids, plastic fucks coming in, and making every human who had spent half their lives working hard to get their badges obsolete. 

He hated them, he’d seen the people who used to work the front desk packing their boxes, tears in their eyes as they begged, pleaded to stay for barely any pay, anything for their families. 

But there was more to it than that, only Tina knew the whole of it and that was a mistake, too much rum on a Tuesday can do that to a guy. It wasn’t just because of what they did, how they’d pretty much taken over and fucked everyone’s lives up. 

It was personal. 

He looked slowly out into the bullpen, all eyes watching him, Anderson still laughing his ass of, chair rocking under him as he rolled in it. Fucking prick.

Even Connor had the nerve to looked shocked, though he seemed to give more of a shit about the body behind him than Gavin, if he was following his eye line correctly. Fucking androids.

He caught Tina’s gaze, like she was waiting for him to look out at her. She shook her head at him, mouthed something that he couldn’t make out, but she looked sorry, maybe it was an apology.

Gavin swallowed back his pride and looked away, to the foot of the captain's desk. 

That was his goal once you know? Make captain, boss everyone around and make lives hell. He wanted it. He’d honestly thought it would be an easy ride a few months ago when Anderson started showing up less and less, then Connor and his fucking ideas came in and got the old fuck back on his feet.

Oh well, he had to die sometime, and Gavin was only in his thirties, he could wait it out.

Well, maybe he could have. Guess he’d never find out now.

Gavin reached down and unhooked his badge from his belt, Fowler glanced at him with alarm and raised his hand to him. “Gavin, don’t be so dramatic.”

It was a warning. He knew that. He looked down at the metal and leather in his hand, felt the weight of it, what it meant, what it made him mean. He stood and moved to unclip his gun from his belt, Fowler sighed and lowered his hand as he watched him bring them together.

Gavin grit his teeth as he slid them across the desk, taking a step back and shaking his head before hissing out. “Sorry to disappoint, but I’m not Anderson.”

It was only then, when he turned around did he really see what they were trying to put him together with. It was Connor, he was right, well not totally. Maybe a little taller, little butcher and broader. Its hair was pretty much the same and it was dressed like a fucking cartoon character, but it was Connor.

He looked it up and down, scowl breaking its way across his face before he could even think about it.

“I hope you’re proud.” he sneered before showing past it and leaving the office, ignoring the call of his name from behind him.

There was no laughter now, the bullpen was silent as they all stared at him. He tried to keep his head low, eyes down, don’t encourage them. 

They’d throw a party for sure - ding dong the witch is dead - kind of party. There’d the cake and streamers and he’d bet his left nut that Connor would even let Anderson drink, because he knew. His desk was opposite them, he heard their stupid little fights about it.

Huh. _Was_. He’d have to get used to that. I _was_ a detective. I _was_ a cop. I _was_... important. Until some plastic prick came along and ruined everything.

Tina hurried over to him as he reached his desk, grabbing his wrist as he reached for his jacket stopping him dead in his tracks. He wasn’t going to look up at her, nope, he knew better. That was until she grabbed his chin and forced him to face her, he huffed as she shook her head.

“Gavin, don’t do this. Not over this, come on.” She offered in a hushed whisper as she tried to smile, but it wavered. “Think of all the shit you could get into, what you could make it do, the office pranks we could pull.”

He managed a smile, barely. Felt as if there were ten-pound weights at the edge of his mouth. “I’m sure you’ll find someone else.”

He tugged at his wrist but she wouldn’t let up, he sighed through his nose and she tightened her grip, nails digging into his skin as he tried to, subtly, get free.

More nails. 

“Why are you so stubborn, Reed?”

Another tug.

“Tina, don’t.”

Less nails but a tug back. 

“Gavin, come on. Why are you doing this?”

“You damn well know why!” Tina looked taken aback at his outburst and her grip on his wrist finally let up, his hand dropping to his side. Gavin realized that it was probably the first time he’d ever yelled at her like that, everyone else yeah, any day they were fair game, but never her. He swallowed thickly, shaking his head at her lightly. “Sorry.”

“You’re damn right you’re sorry.” Okay, so much for hushed conversation. He’d crossed a line, it was fair. “Now, get back in there and get your badge.”

Gavin shook his head with a grimace. “I can’t.”

“Gavin.” She gave him a desperate sympathetic look before her brow furrowed and she put a hand to his shoulder.  “Think about it. Go home, and come back tomorrow. You wanna take your shit in the morning, then I won’t stop you.”

He watched her as she smiled softly at him. “Please?”

Gavin gave her a small nod before stepping around her and heading to the door. He didn’t look back, didn’t listen in when he heard whispers of his name, didn’t even stop when he heard Tina yell something that he was pretty sure was a string of curses at them all.

He managed to make it to his car before it hit him. 

He’d just lost his job. 

The one thing he actually cared about. The one thing that made him matter. 

The first punch he felt, knuckles cracking against the metal of his door. The second came so fast he couldn’t tell if the shock was new. The rest came too quick for him to think about. The shout he made as he laid into the metal ripped from him before he could even think of anyone hearing it. 

It wasn’t until his hand slipped on his own blood and he grazed his fingers on the window edge, breath coming in short pants, and throat raw and dry, did he stop.

Gavin looked down at his work, his blood smeared all across his door now dented and bent all out of shape in the middle. He looked at his shaking hand. Bloody, skin torn and red, bones probably broken. He grabbed at it with his other hand, hoping the tremble would stop if he just forced it down.

He managed to scramble into his car, fingers fumbling with his keys as he willed his hands to stop shaking so he could just start the car and go home. He wasn’t sure how many tried it took but he somehow managed, car stuttering to life, and he peeled out of the lot.

The second he was home and through the door, he marched to the kitchen, pulled the bottle of rum from the fridge and took as much as he could straight back before it made him gag.

And that was how he stayed until he could see the edges of the sunset, vision tilting as he gazed up at the skyline. He wasn’t sure how long he’d been there, sat with his back against the counter, looking out across the apartment and out the window, the small reach of what he could see made him feel a little better, watching the city skyline move.

His phone was still going off, the soft buzzing of plastic against wood next to him reminding him that he wasn’t completely alone. He wasn’t ignoring her, he’d text her that at least. Tina had a bad habit of showing up if phone calls weren't answered, with a slap around the head and some choice worse about being a bad friend. 

He needed space, time even maybe. He needed everything to sink in.

He’d long since broken. His cheeks felt sticky with the tears he hadn't bothered to wipe away, what was the point when more would only follow. The wet patch on his shirt was annoying him a little, a mix of tears and rum that he’d spilled, the bottle now laying empty by his side.

His hand hurt, every now and then he’d stretch out his fingers to feel the shift under his skin, oh yeah, something was definitely broken there.

Maybe he regretted it, he couldn’t really tell, brain to fuzzy to really decide anything right now. He looked down at his phone and reached over for it, back sliding across the cupboard door so he ended up lying on floor on his side.

He looked at his message without unlocking it.

Tina ‘The only bitch’ Chen – 24 Unread messages.

Anderson – 3 Unread messages.

RK800 – 2 Unread messages.

What the fuck, when did Connor get his fucking number? Anderson probably. Asshole always did like to make his life difficult. Gavin huffed to himself and slid his phone away from him, he sunk fully to the floor, arm sprawling out next to him as he pressed his cheek to the floor.

He bet he looked as pathetic as he felt. And that’s why he stayed there, falling asleep, drunk and miserable on his kitchen floor.

_“_ _Elijah_ _!_ _Elijah! Come look!”_

_“What Gavin?” Friendly, familiar._

_“Look!” He’d climbed so high, wasn’t even fussed with the hole he’d put in his new shorts_ _\- even if_ _his mother would be_ _-_ _but he didn’t care. “Come up, you’ll see.”_

_“I’m not climbing that, there’s bugs and if the branch breaks you’ll fall.” He was_ _pulling a face at him, down at his brother as he laughed up at him. “Just tell me what you see.”_

_The sun made his eyes go funny, dots of light bloomed in his sight but he kept looking. It was almost perfect, the sky lit up in a perfect line of yellow and orange, almost like a drawing he’d done in class._

_“It’s like the end of the world.” He smiled, his brother laughed up at him._

_“Yeah?”_

_“Yeah, it’s like I can see the end. The edge of the earth, when the sun falls off the end and everything is on fire.”_

_“That’s pretty dark Gavin, eve_ _n_ _for you.”_

_He smiled down._

_“I could stay here forever.”_

_A sharp crack._

_Snapping._

_Shaking._

_Scrambling hands._

_Slipping feet._

_“No!”_

_“Gavin!”_

_A scream._

_A crash._

_Pain._

_Panic._

_Blood._

_Blood._

Feb. 13th. 2039.

Gavin jolted awake with a gasp, pushing himself up on his forearms from the floor as he tried to catch his breath, his eyes staring wide down at the floor, focusing on the small puddle of drool that he’d made. Shuddering out a sigh he sat up gingerly, leaning back against the counter, hand running up and over his head.

He hissed as his knuckled cracked above him and he drew his hand back with a wince, studying his hand carefully as he folded and unfolded his fingers. The pain was there, but it wasn’t sharp. Probably just a fracture, he could deal with that. He’d need to clean it though; dried blood and the beginnings of a few scabs didn’t really look at that great.

He dragged himself from the floor, quite literally, using his non-shattered hand to grab the counter top and haul himself to his feet, swaying a little as he found his balance. His head felt groggy, no hangover thankfully but he didn’t feel like doing any hard math anytime soon.

Gavin managed to take one step before a muffled, but clearly loud and obnoxious ‘meow’ from outside his balcony door grabbed his attention. His cat sat there, eyes narrowed at him like it was judging his fucking terrible life choices, as he waited not so patiently for Gavin to let him in.

Gavin huffed and began to stumble over, rubbing absently at his face as he was stared down by his passive aggressive roommate. He stopped at the door, hand on the latch and looked down at him.

“You know I found you right? I took you from the streets, I’ll put your ungrateful ass _right_ back.” His comments were ignored with a low grumble as it sauntered in, walking straight past him and made its way over to the discarded bottle on the floor. “You’re welcome.”

Gavin sighed closing the door and walking away towards the bathroom, he waved absently behind him. “And don’t drink that.” He reprimanded as the cat made no effort to leave the bottle alone as he left the room.

He didn’t see much point in showering, not like he had to make any kind of effort today. Clearing your desk wasn’t exactly a ‘black-tie' kind of formality. Heavy stubble, dark circles and unwashed hair would do just fine, thank you very much. At least he brushed his teeth.

He made little effort to really clean his hand, a quick rinse under the warm water and a pat down with a towel seemed to clean it up enough. Deciding that he’d throw some disinfectant on it later if it started going a funny colour, just another scar to add to his collection, right?

He grabbed the first shirt he touched in his draws and threw it on, dumping the one he’d made a mess of the night before in a heap at the end of his bed, with all his other laundry he’d been neglecting for a few days now.

He sat on the bed to throw on a new pair of jeans, absently poking around the nicely forming bruise on his knee before pulling them on. Socks didn’t need to match, didn’t need a belt now he had nothing to latch onto it, and his jacket was somewhere on the floor in his living room.

“Oh, for fucks sake.” Gavin complained as he walked in on his cat, lapping up his drool on the floor. “What is wrong with you? Fucking stop.” He gave the cat a soft kick to move him on before grabbing his food from the cupboard above him.

He bent down, giving it a quick swipe over its head in place of a pat, and shook some of the biscuits onto the floor. He hadn’t bothered getting it a bowl, hell he hadn’t even given it a name. It was just cat. Or nuisance, in most cases.

He’d found it sniffing out his garbage the first few weeks after he’d first moved in, every time he took bags out to the trash it would scatter but the second he was retreating to the door, the cat would come crawling back.

He’d bought some food, acting on instinct and guessing that it didn’t have anyone feeding it for it to be picking away at trash scraps, he wouldn’t be a very good detective if he couldn’t put two and two together.

A few more weeks of leaving small handfuls of cat food lying around had led to the thing actually greeting him when he came outside. He wasn’t much of an animal guy; never had a childhood pet and he wasn’t really that bothered about having something annoy him for food and a place to shit every day after work. 

But this scruffy grey thing, with big green eyes and a stupidly loud meow somehow managed to be invited up into his apartment. And so here it stood; Gavin had a cat, wasn’t his cat, wasn’t anyone's cat, if anything the cat had him. 

He’d been living with it now for over a year and they had a kind of mutual... maybe not respect but liking of each other. Gavin provided food and shelter, the cat... well it didn’t really give him anything but he wasn’t a total asshole so he let the completely one-sided arrangement slide.

“You owe me rent.” He reminded as he threw the box onto the counter and began looking for his jacket.

He almost stepped on his phone, forgetting he’d left it lying around. He managed to avoid completely crushing it and just kind of awkwardly skipped around it, kicking it a foot across the floor before grabbing it.

His jacket laid sprawled by his coffee table, like he’d thrown it and missed the couch by a mile, which he probably did. He quickly deleted any and all message before he managed to frustrate himself out of going to the station and made quick work of finding his shoes.

Gavin gave himself a quick pat down before he reached the door; Keys? Phone? Last scrap of dignity? Check. Okay, fuck it. Let’s go make a fucking fool of yourself, Gavin.

Somehow, halfway to the station he decided fuck it. Fuck it all. 

Maybe it was shallow pride. Maybe it was the bitter idea of quitting because of a fucking android. Or maybe it was because he was still a little drunk.

But somewhere, maybe a mile away, he turned off and headed for the nearest superstore instead. And so, this is where he stood; basket half full of snacks, cat food and three different kinds of rum, and staring blankly at the freezer section.

Was he feeling so unbelievably like shit that he was about to indulge in every fifteen-year-old girls heartbreak phantasy? Of buying your body weight in ice cream and eating the whole tub all the while crying you ass of over some old sitcom?

You bet your ass he was. 

Cookie dough is also grossly overrated, chocolate brownie was is where it’s at, just FYI.

He’s greeted at the door with a meow and Gavin remembered that he’d left he cat inside as he’d rushed off. The cat followed his pace as he made his way to the kitchen, dumping the bags on the counter and fishing out the ice cream without a second thought.

The cat seemed to understand that what he had in his hand was far easier to beg for than the bags of sealed groceries, as the second Gavin’s ass hit the couch, it was there sitting in front of the TV in the middle of the coffee table, purring as loud as it could.

“Fuck off.” Gavin frowned at him but all he got in return was a head tilt and some doe eyes. He sighed and offered the lid to it instead. “Fine, but keep your fucking head down.”

That cat seemed to take the offer and nipped the paper lid between its teeth, before jerking up and jumping from the table, presumably to go eat his treat somewhere Gavin couldn’t take it back.

There wasn’t much on, Netflix had kind of run out of ‘original’ ideas in the 20s, but there was always something to have on in the background. He settled on Happy, an old show about a washed-up kind of crazy ex-cop that was pretty popular when he was a kid, well a teenager. 

A few episodes in and halfway down the carton, the cat had decided that Gavin was okay enough for today that he’d have the honour of being his nap spot. Gavin watched as it jumped up and began kneading at his leg, until he uncrossed them and he curled up in his lap.

“You’re lucky you’re kinda cute, that shit wouldn’t fly with anyone else.” He commented, licking his spoon idly, looking down as the cat sprawled out, toes spreading a little wildly before it settled and dozed off purring contently.

Gavin sighed and rested his head back against the couch. “So this is my life now.”

Feb. 14th. 2039.

He was a dead man. 

He was going to be dug up in ten years by some edgy teens, in a field, by accident, as they made a YouTube video. The only thing that would link him to his name would be his stupid jacket.

No one would know how he got there. How on this fateful day he’d pulled into the station parking lot and found Tina Chen, standing arms crossed in the middle of his parking space.

He was a dead, dead man.

He’d spent an hour debating this in his apartment. Half an hour debating it on the drive. And was now experiencing instant regret as he locked eyes with the Tina shaped road block before him.

“Show me your phone.” Was the first thing she demanded as he pulled into the space and stepped out of the car. Tina had gracefully stepped back or more so, walked backwards not breaking eye contact like some kind of fucking terminator, to let him pull in. 

“If I say no, are you going to arrest me?” He had to try, couldn’t say he wasn’t going to go down swinging.

Tina gave him a less than amused stare. “No.” She stated, arms still crossed over her chest. “I’m going to _shoot_ you.”

Gavin held up his hands in surrender before fishing his phone from his pocket and waving it at her.

“So, you _saw_ the messages, _ignored_ the calls and you _think_ I’m going to let that go?” He recognized the tone, the interrogation tone that said don’t fuck with me because I might be the only one still on your side.

“T, come on. I said leave me alone.” Gavin huffed, shoving his hands into his pockets.

“I did. I left it, I left you alone. Then when you don’t show up in the morning, it would have been nice to know you weren’t dead.” Her arms moved to place on her hips as she stared him down.

“Yeah well,” He was going for indignant if anyone asked, even if it sounded a little meek. “That’s what happens when you black out on your kitchen floor. Doesn’t leave you very talkative.” Well it wasn’t a total lie now was it?

Tina sighed and one arm dropped. Okay, progress. He was less of a dead man and more of a brutally assaulted man, he could deal with that. She waved her hand at him, leaving it hovering as he stared at her blankly. “Give me your hand.”

“You know I’m not into that.” He tried with a weary smile, maybe he could tilt the favour to slightly beaten man?

She snorted at him and took a step forward, hand still raised.  “Don’t think I didn’t see the mess you made _dumbass_ , did you even clean it?”

“Yes.”

“With soap.”

Damn it. Gavin sighed and gave her his hand, she took it, holding his fingers maybe a little too gently given her obvious mood with him. Tina looked it over, humming to herself before looking him dead in the eyes.

And smacking her other hand down atop his bruised knuckles. Hard.

Gavin flinched, choking out a pained noise as she gripped his hand between hers. He reached to grab her wrist and she squeezed down harder.

“Ahh! What the fuck!?” Gavin wheezed, making no real effort to pull his hand away, it was pointless in trying, he knew that. 

“Are you sorry?” She demanded and Gavin winced, gritting his teeth as he held her wrist tightly.

“Ahh! Yes! Yes, fuck me.” He let out an audible gasp as she freed his abused hand. Pulling it back and cradling it to his chest, trying to ease the burning sting away. Tina gave him a warning glare before turning and walking towards the door to the station. “Fuck.”

Gavin shook out his hand before following her and walking through the door.

“You didn’t have to fucking abuse me, just asking would have been fine.” He groaned, stretching out his fingers with a grimace as they walked.

“Since when do you do anything I ask you to?” She huffed looking down at his shaking hand. “Does it hurt?”

“Yes.” he scoffed and she hummed contently.

“Good.”

“Hey, I’m fucking here aren’t I? Whose stupid idea was it to have me come back.” Gavin countered defensively. He didn’t want to be here, fuck this. He was happy to leave. Well... no, he wasn’t, but he wasn’t going to be begging for his job back. “Answer; This was your stupid idea and I took it.”

Tina stopped dead in her tracks and whirled on her heals to face him, standing just inches apart.

“I did you a favour.” She snapped and Gavin grit his teeth, he really didn’t need this right now, like being here alone wasn’t making him feel like shit. “You’re so god damn hot headed that you do this shit all the time and you don’t even realize.” 

Woah, hold on just a fucking minute. Who the hell said Gavin Reed didn’t know he was hot headed? It wasn’t like it was a secret to himself. He fucking knew he had a temper. He knew he was irritable. This wasn’t a fucking news flash, he was fully aware that he was a piece of shit, thank you very much.

“Fuck you.” He snapped back and she laughed in his face.

“Fuck me? Oh, it’s fuck me now? You are a mess Gavin Reed, a true piece of trash. And I am the only stupid schmuck in this place who puts up with half your shit.” Gavin managed to swallow down the defensive urged to shove her back and out of his face. “I've saved your life, twice! And now I’m having to save your job! And this! This, is the thanks I get!?”

She had a point. Fuck. But that didn’t mean he was happy about it, or that he was about to let it go. Gavin felt the anger welling up, something that he held back with her just of principle that’s he might actually be his only friend; he’d had a shitty week, and his breaking point was coming up quick.

“I never asked you to save me! I’m not your pet project and I’m sure as shit not your fucking charity case.” He shouted back, he heard it echoing from the walls and all down the hallway around them. “And I’m sorry if that pisses you off but I’m going to pretend I’m something I’m not!”

“Pretend to be what?!” She argued back, not backing down despite his obvious state. “God Reed, they’re not asking you to change you, just do your fucking job! So what, your new partner is an android? You think I love babysitting the fucking plastic cops the give me on patrol? Fuck no, but I do it because that’s what I’m paid to do!”

Tina let out a heavy breath before her shoulders sagged and she shook her head. “Gavin, I know this _sucks_. But is one personal vendetta really going to fuck up everything you’ve worked for?”

Gavin screwed up his nose and let out a sharp sigh through gritted teeth.

“You don’t understand.” Gavin shook his head. “Every time I’m... near those things, it’s just-”

“You’re right. I don’t know how you feel, but I will say this,” Tina paused to catch his attention. “If you can look me in the eye, and tell me with a straight face that you would really give all this up just because of _one_ stupid android?” Gavin blinked at her as she stared him down. “Then I’ll let you turn around right now and I’ll tell Fowler myself.”

God, he fucking hated it when she was right. Tina Chen, the voice of fucking reason. He hated it.

Of all his flaws, all his shit habits and his temperament, she always knew. She called him out, said his name in a way he’d never let anyone else get away with. And of course, she was always right. She was the only stupid schmuck that put up with his shit. God only knew why.

One day Gavin would swallow his stupid fucking shitty pride and tell her that straight. Maybe. One day.

“I hate you.”

Tina broke out into a shit eating grin. “Keeps me warm at night.”

Gavin fucking hated her, he swears down he does. “I hope it burns you alive.”

He wasn’t talking to it. Nope. He was going to ignore it and carry on like it wasn’t there. There as in right opposite him. There as in fucking _staring_ right at him.

Coming back in had taken a lot of pride, luckily Tina had gone on one of her world-famous rants and had managed to be sure that everyone kept their mouth shut as he’d walked in. He wouldn’t be surprised if she’d planted bombs under their desks. 

Gavin had walked into Fowlers office - ready for a fight - when he’d been directed back to his desk without a word. On it sat his badge and his gun, still in its holster, and a little sticky note that simply read ‘nobody likes a drama queen’. He’d let that one go as he was grateful that Fowler hadn’t marched his ass through the bullpen. Small victories he guessed.Opposite him, sat the RK900. 

He’d set himself back up, opening and spreading the case file that had also been conveniently left on his desk and began cross-referencing when he could. He’d been doing that for an hour. The RK had just been staring at him for an hour.

Gavin was down to his last nerve. But he wasn't talking to it. No. If he talked to it, it would talk back. He didn’t want that. He wanted it to stay as far away as possible and be as quiet as possible.

He just wanted it to stop looking at him, even Connor hadn’t pissed Anderson off this much. Or maybe he did, wasn’t like he was hanging out with the guy when it had happened. Either way, he was pretty sure that whatever the hell they had done to Connor to make him look like a fucking Eden Club worker, they’d removed from this model.

The RK900 had the straightest posture Gavin had ever seen, even for an android, it made his spine ache just by looking at him. His fucking shirt and jacket made him look like he was a doll, propped up on a display, neck unmoving and back pole straight.

It just looked uncomfortable. Looked like someone had taken a toy and made it come to life, rather than an actual state of the art model, android detective.

It just looked out of place. Like it didn't know what to do with itself. Hell, even Connor had tried to talk to people on his first day. Even if it was a little much, Gavin still enjoyed thinking back to socking him right in the stomach. At least Connor had talked to him to piss him off.

This thing was just staring him down. It wasn’t his pet, he wasn’t about to go roping out instructions for it to follow.

Gavin moved back in his seat, grabbing his coffee and making quick work of what was left of it. It wasn’t fresh to say the least and it didn’t really taste all that good, but it was keeping his eyes open and that was all that mattered.

He glanced over and yet again, it was still watching him. He didn’t have the patience for this shit today.

“Stop fucking looking at me.” he demanded. It didn’t even seem fazed by his outburst and kept its steady stare. “Do some work or something, stop looking at me.”

The RK gave him a small head tilt for his efforts and Gavin felt his resolve begin to crumble.

“If you don’t stop looking at me, I’m going to put a bullet between your eyes.”

“Highly unlikely.” It finally spoke and Gavin stared back in shock. 

“You think I won’t do it, prick?”

“I think you’ll miss.” Was that a fucking challenge? Was it trying to fuck with him?

“You wanna test that theory.” Gavin stood and its eyes followed him, he pulled his gun from his back and pressed it to its forehead. It had the nerve to look completely unbothered by his move.

“Stop _staring_ at me.”

The RK began to move, it stood slowly but didn’t take the chance to pull away from the barrel pressed to its head. “You try to pull that trigger, I’ll break your wrist.”

It moved quickly, swiping up at Gavin’s arm and taking a tight hold of his wrist, holding his arm out, gun pointing to the ceiling as it moved it to the side. Gavin fought back a wince at the iron grip it had.

“Go ahead.” Gavin snarled, taking a step closer trying to ignore the way his arm pulled under the strain. “I’m not scared of you.”

“You should be.” It retorted. In a swift move it dropped his arm and slowly sat down in the chair, never once breaking eye contact. 

Gavin looked up to see Fowler giving him a stern glare through the glass, he himself not even making the effort to move away from his desk. Gavin put the gun back in its place reluctantly and pointed down at the other.

“Do something useful and stop pissing me off.”

“I feel that would be impossible detective, my very existence seems to irritate you.”

Smug fuck. Gavin shook his head. “Exactly. You’re nothing but a pain in my ass, so leave me alone.”

Gavin sulked away to the breakroom, not enough sleep and not enough coffee really wasn’t doing him any good today. He was halfway through filling his cup when he heard the distinct click of expensive shoes approach behind him, he turned to make a smart remark but came face to face with the android.

“I have nothing to do. You see detective, while you were gone throwing your tantrum yesterday, I was here, working our cases. What little we had has been done and now I am left with nothing.”

“Fuck you.” Gavin spat and the RK took a small step forward, forcing him back against the counter, his back bending uncomfortably in effort to keep some distance between them.

“If you won’t work with me, then do not complain when I am left with no work. If anyone is a pain in anyone’s ass, it is _you_ in _mine_ , detective.”

“I don’t have to take this shit from you-”

“No, you don’t.” RK cut him off quickly. “If you put aside whatever childish notion you have against me, and worked _with_ me, your life would be much easier.”

“You don’t know anything about me.” Gavin spat back.

“No, nor do I care. But if your attitude continues to disrupt my work, I won’t be pleased.”

“It’s personal.” Gavin snapped and the RK shook its head.

“I don’t care. Either work with me, or I will make your life hell.”

Gavin let out a hollow laugh. “Yeah? Jokes on you asshole, my life is already hell. Guess you’ll just have to deal with it.”

Gavin pushed up from the counter and shoved past the other quickly, it wasn’t until he’d made his way outside he realised he’d left his coffee in the break room. “Fuck.”

Feb. 17th. 2039.

Three days. Three days since it had cornered him and put him out over the counter to threaten him. He didn’t give a shit. He could take it. It was empty anyway, he knew damn well that it couldn’t kill him if it tried. Programs and shit, the same program that had prevented Connor from fighting back when he’d hit him. 

Although, Connor had beat his ass in the evidence locker last year too, but he figured that was at his breaking point. He’d come back deviant after that. Okay. Maybe he should watch his back a little? Yeah, a little was fine. He could deal with that.

Fowler had tagged him at the end of the day and told him to 'make an effort. Stop being so hostile. If he broke it, he bought it, and he knew Gavin didn’t make even close to the amount of zero’s he’d be writing a check for.'

Gavin looked over at his plastic partner, the android currently scowling at the terminal before him as if it had personally offended him the second he'd connected with it. He looked over across the bullpen, watching Connor perched on the end of Andersons desk as they bickered away at each other, almost quietly, about something. 

Be less hostile. Anderson had put Connor up against the wall by his collar the first day they’d worked together. Be less hostile, his ass.

Tilting his head to the side in thought Gavin turned back to watched the other for a moment, before reaching over and tapping twice at the centre of their desks. 

RK900 slowly looked over at him with a stare that spoke numbers, the kind of look you'd give someone for shoulder checking you in the hall. Or at least the kind Gavin would anyway.

"Yes?" It asked, pointedly, remaining perfectly still. If Gavin wasn’t such an asshole, he probably would have let it go. Its body language said it all; Fuck. Off.

“You not gunna ask me anything?” he shrugged lightly in question and received the same blank stare in return. It didn’t even blink.

“Why would I do that?” The RK finally asked, Gavin smirked at its tone; still not happy with him he took it.

“Connor asked Hank a whole bunch of shit when they were teamed up, you know ‘help them bond’ or whatever,” he snarked back, hands raising to air quote before shrugging and resting them palms down on his desk. “So, you gunna ask me some dumb shit or what?”

“Why?” It narrowed its eyes at the terminal, making an effort not to look at him it seemed.

“I’m being less hostile.” Gavin responded proudly with only an inch of sarcasm laced through and gave a small shrug.

It sighed. It actually sighed at him before looking back at the terminal. Gavin was a little taken aback and sat back against his chair watching the other.

“Despite contrary to popular belief I am nothing like my predecessor.” RK stated plainly, as if it were the most obvious thing on this here fucked up earth. “And I have _no_ intentions of knowing anything about you Detective Reed, what I already know is too much.”

Gavin raised a brow at that, crossing his arms over his stomach and lacing his fingers together. He nodded at the other and shrugged lightly. “So, what do you know?”

The RK900 didn’t acknowledge him, he’d almost thought he’d been ignored and was about to lean forward to huff out a protest when it turned to look at him again.

“You’re a dick.” It said plainly and Gavin laughed and nodded.

“And?”

“And people hate you, you are an average detective at best and your arrogance seems to blind you to that fact.” 

Well shit. Gavin blanched and sat forward with a scowl, to which the RK seemed to challenge easily by doing the exact same, practically creating a mirror image of the two over the desks as they stared eye to eye.

“You are mediocre." It continued before Gavin could even open his mouth. "A pointless tagalong to my mission, and the only reason I haven't disposed of you yet, is because killing you would halt my progress.”

Fuck. This. His patience could only go so far. He was only one man, be less hostile was not working out. Maybe he should pass the message on, we’re pretending to be nice shit bag, play along.

“Now listen here yo-”

“No.” Gavin’s mouth snapped shut so fast his teeth clicked a little too hard in his head. “You will listen. I don’t need you, and I never will. I have no intention of getting to know you and I have no need for a friendship. I have only one need; and that is to complete my mission. You are barely a factor.”

Gavin took a moment, fist clenching on the desk, the two staring each other down akin to something in an old western. 

Now Gavin Reed was a hot-headed asshole who didn’t let any old comment go pass easily. But let it also be known that Gavin Reed was definitely one spiteful son of a bitch.

And two could play at that game. Now this was one effort he could make.

He watched the other’s expression before humming to himself and slowly sitting back in his chair. He pulled his feet up on his desk and grabbed his phone, crossing one leg over the other.

He looked back at the RK, who was intently staring at him now, and shrugged, hands raising in the air a little as he smiled smugly back at the other. “Fine by me, you do all the work and I’ll just sit here and look pretty.”

The RK scowled at him as he huffed out a laugh and looked down at his phone, he had a few unread messages from Tina so it wasn’t as if he was faking when he began tapping away. He had almost zoned out when it said it, he almost missed it.

“If you can manage that.”

The android shifted back in its seat, resuming its previous position and connecting with the terminal again. Gavin frowned down at his phone, side eyeing the other as he replied back to Tina.

_TC:_ _Look at you and_ _yo_ _android buddy_

_TC: He_ _ute_ _tho_

_TC: Not_ _C_ _onnor cute but cute_

_TC: Like_ _a bulldog_

Gavin smiled to himself as he typed back.

_GR: Or a mongrel you find in the trash_

_GR: And since when did you find_ _C_ _onnor cute??_

_TC: He gave me a flower_ _once,_ _he nice unlike some bitches I know_

_GR:_ _Communist_

_TC:_ _Jealous_

_GR: I’d rather shit in my hands and clap_

_TC: … Can I film it??_

_GR: Breakroom?_

_TC: Yup_

Gavin kicked his feet from his desk and stood, pocketing his phone and grabbing his empty coffee cup from his desk. He walked around the terminal, deliberately bumping the RK900’s desk with his hip, making the monitor waver a little, earning himself a side eye from the android, and walked to the breakroom.

Tina put her phone down and smiled a knowing smile at him, he held his hands up a little in a questioning gesture as she chuckled at him.

“You try too hard.” she commented as he approached the coffee pot. Gavin huffed.

“Try what?”

“To be an asshole,” she smiled smugly and shook her head, Gavin only saw due to the reflection in the coffee maker. “I mean, you’re a real bitch, but you’re not a total dickhead.”

“I thought I was trash.” He retorted smugly and she nodded at him with an obvious blank stare. 

“You are. But you’re not a total garbage dump.” 

Gavin spun on his heals and put a hand to his chest. “I’m hurt. You think so _highly_ of me.”

“I know the truth.” she pointed at him, finger wagging as he smirked and turned back to his coffee. He set the pot down and moved to fix his coffee, before leaning back against the counter taking a small sip. 

“You actually working today or you just here to stare at my new plastic partner and belittle me some more?”

Tina hummed and feigned being in deep thought before shaking her head and pouting at him. Gavin rolled his eyes. “Can I do both?”

“No.” He snapped into his coffee, Tina just laughed at him. “You think this is funny, don’t you?”

“Oh yeah, top ten comedy. I’ve brought a change of underwear just in case this little show gets too much.” she smiled pointing down to her shoulder bag sat against her side. “But seriously, what are you going to do?”

Gavin snorted into his cup and gave her a smug smile, waving an arm out to the side. “That’s the beauty of it. He told me to fuck off, so I’m doing just that. I have fucked _all_ the way off.”

Tina shot him a look and he shrugged. “What? It told me too, I’m just being a good partner.”

She threw her head back and let out a loud, sharp obnoxious laugh that echoed through the nook, Gavin simply scowled at her.

“You? A good partner? I was right to bring those undies.”

“Fuck off.” 

She threw her empty takeaway cup at him, which he caught before it hit him in the face, but not before it spattered the remains of its contents over his face. Tina laughed a genuine laugh, hands flying up to cover her mouth as he flinched back, eyes snapping closed as his face scrunched in disgust. 

He threw the cup behind him, bitterly wiping the coffee from his face with his sleeve before shaking his head at her. He made a move towards her, she held up her hands in surrender as he raised his cup a little higher, pointedly in her direction.

“Okay, don’t even dare.” She held up a warning finger, eyes never leaving the cup in his hand and he stalked over. She grabbed his wrist as he held it over her head and laughed, Gavin smirked down at her. “Gavin, I fuckin' swear, I will shoot you.”

“Say sorry.” the cup waved in the air as he pushed back against her hand and she let out a half-annoyed half laugh as some coffee went over the edge and hit the table in front of her.

“Gavin!” Tina laughed as he smiled down at her. 

“Detective.” Gavin turned and looked over his shoulder to see the RK900 standing in the archway, hands behind its back, it seemed to be studying the two. Tina took the opportunity and grabbed the cup from his hand and placed in on the table, keeping up under her hand as Gavin quickly looked between the two.

“What?” Gavin snapped, leaning with his elbow on the table, hoping his irritation was bleeding through his stance as much as he wanted it to. 

The RK seemed to give them a confused look before its default static face slipped back into place as it addressed the two. “Officer Chen. I need Detective Reed to accompany me now, if you two are finished with your _clearly_ important meeting.”

Gavin scowled at it and stood straighter from the table. “Don’t fucking speak to her like that.”

“I’m sorry, I wasn’t aware that play fighting like children was vital to police work, my mistake.”

Gavin huffed and Tina straightened her back in her seat next to him, she shared a glance at him, amused smirk playing at the edge of her lips as they looked back at the android. “Wow, they made you the perfect asshole didn’t they.”

She commented looking the RK up and down critically, Gavin responded with a small laugh and shook his head. “Didn’t make _me_ shit.”

“Detective, I need you to follow me.” The RK seemed almost frustrated and Gavin tilted his head before his mouth curved down in an exaggerated frown. 

“Why?” he shook his head slightly and gave a small shrug, arms coming up and crossing over his chest as he stared the other down. “You said you didn’t need my help, so why should I?”

The RK’s mouth seemed to tug up into a grimace before it looked away from the two, seemingly making a point to stare at the floor by their feet instead. “I need you to come with me.”

Gavin shrugged again, looking back at Tina before returning his stubborn pout at the android. “So?”

“No,” It huffed. It huffed at him, again. Gavin was taken a little taken aback as the RK seemed to grit its teeth before carrying on. “I _need_ you with me. As; I can’t go to a crime scene _without_ you.”

Gavin laughed, he full on laughed, his arms fell and he smacked a hand on the table before turning to Tina, who was wearing her own smug smile, and pointed at the other.

“You hear that?” Gavin laughed and held his hand with a wave out at the other. “It told me to fuck off, but now it can’t do shit without me.” he shook his head with a chuckle. “You believe this?”

“Detective, I would appreciate it if you just-”

“Oh, no no no no _no_.” Gavin shook a finger at it, taking a bold step forward, the RK’s scowl deepened. “You want me to go with you? To help you? Me, the... wait, what was it again?”

Gavin waved a hand at it and the RK900 sighed, Tina watched as its eyes closed and it seemed to steel itself before answering. “An average detective, mediocre at best, a... pointless tagalong.”

“That’s right!” Gavin rushed out, almost in a whisper at the beautiful spite of it, smug smile painting his face. He looked back at Tina and nodded, pointing to himself proudly. “That’s me.”

He looked back at the RK900 and shook his head. “You want me to help you? Here’s my _help_ for the day; don’t burn bridges you intend to cross later.”

Gavin took a step back spreading his arms wide before turning and heading back to Tina’s side, he looked up at her with a smug smile before it turned into a frown. She was watching the android, now stood arms by its side, looking almost defeated in the archway, not having moved a foot forward since it came to them.

Tina shook her head lightly as she watched it. It looked... angry? Maybe it looked almost... lost. The RK glanced around behind it, into the bullpen, before looking to Gavin, nodding once and walking away, presumably to its desk.

“I think you upset it.” She commented, tone slightly amused as she watched it leave and Gavin huffed at her, shaking his head and throwing an arm out.

“So?” he scowled and followed her eye line. Huh. She was right? The RK900 was sat at its desk, arms in its lap, looking down at its feet. If Gavin didn’t know any better he’d say it looked... sad? 

No. Don’t be fucking stupid. 

He straightened up at the table and sighed as he watched the RK glance slowly around the room, its LED twirling yellow as it scanned the room. 

Gavin looked back at her and Tina gave him a look of wonder, before they both looked back at it. “Maybe you should... go?” She shrugged and Gavin sighed, fingers tapping at the table in nervous habit. “I mean, it said crime scene, so it could be serious. I don’t think androids can run personal errands.”

Gavin thought about it and figured she was right, and if it was an actual crime scene it meant he had an actual job to do, and fucking it off just to spite an android didn’t seem right. Who do you think he is, Anderson, for fuck sake? No, he gave a shit about his job and the people he helped, in what was left of his piece of shit city.

He huffed before stepping back from the table, giving it one last hard tap before dragging his hand away. “Yeah, you’re right. But if anyone asks, it was my idea.” He waved her off and she gave him a smile in return and a half-hearted salute. “Duty calls.”

He stopped in the archway and sighed, this... wasn’t going to be easy, nor would it feel good.

“Get the fuck up and stop moping, you look fucking ridiculous.” He called toward the android, who's head picked up immediately at his voice and shot a glare at him. “We got a job to do.” Gavin stated as if it was his idea all along and tossed his keys at it as he approached, the RK caught them easily without even moving from its seat and stared after him as he passed. “Come on. You’re driving, get a move on.”

Gavin stalked out the side door of the station towards the parking lot, he heard his keys rattling behind him and a quick glance over his shoulder confirmed that the android wasn’t too far behind despite his head start. His car chirped as it unlocked, just before his hand reached the handle.

He watched as the RK walked around and climbed in quickly, grabbing its seatbelt and clicking it into place. It looked up at Gavin before frowning at him, it turned the keys in the ignition but when it didn’t move, Gavin shook his head at it expectantly.

“Well?”

“Put on your seatbelt.” was all it said before staring him down. Gavin contemplated if it would be worth the time wasted to see how long it would wait before setting off, before realizing that he’d probably be long since dead before it changed its mind. He slung it on, giving it an unnessasary tug as he clicked it into place as obnoxiously as a safety belt would allow anyone to do, and pointed at it as if proving a point.

“There, happy?”

“Ecstatic.” The RK murmured before shifting the gear, it paused again, stilling before reversing out the space and Gavin sighed heavily, throwing his hands up and back against his thighs for dramatic effect.

“What? What the fuck now?” He glared at the other. The RK looked back at him with a blank face, no scowl, no frown. Just... blank. Gavin blinked.

“Thank you.” It said, still staring him down. Gavin let out a sigh through his nose and nodded once, maybe a little stubbornly at it.

“I’m not doing this for you or your fucking mission, I’m doing this because I’m a good cop. And people matter. Now, stop looking at me like I handed you the fucking sun. and drive.”

“No problem detective.”

Gavin rested his head back against the seat as the android took the wheel. 

His moment of peace lasted 0.05 seconds.

The car lurched back out the space at a sudden speed, jerking him in his seat, hard. He was almost thrown into the door as the RK span the car around and sped from the garage. He wasn’t proud of the noise that came out of his mouth but he was safe in the knowledge that no one would ever know he made it.

“Oh my god.” Gavin moaned opening the door, hand braced on the handle as he slowly and cautiously turned in his seat. “You are _never_ driving again, _ever_.”

He placed his shaky feet on the ground and took a breath, hunching over as he waited for his heart to stop racing. He wasn’t sure they’d gone below 50 the entire drive. Gavin drove like a fucking fool but he wasn’t _that_ crazy.

“Oh god, I knew you hated me but I didn’t know it was that bad.” Gavin gasped out, moving his hand to his chest as he slowly stood and closed the door. 

“I assure you, you were in no danger.” The RK didn’t seem at all bothered by Gavin’s fear.

“Oh yeah,” Gavin scoffed. “Says the talking toaster that can’t have a heart attack.”

“Maybe if you indulged in a little less takeout and a little more exercise, you wouldn't be at such a risk.” Gavin gaped at it as the RK walked past him and towards the blue flashing lights down the street. “And I’m much more than a talking toaster.”

“Did you just-” Gavin’s mouth snapped shut as he was forced to follow the other, the RK heading straight for the crime scene and obviously ignoring him.

Gavin walked with him until they reached the yellow holographic tape, cutting across an alleyway at the back of a factory. The building looked old, unused, possibly collapsing if the giant hole in the roof was anything to go by.

Chris stood by the tape, keeping people back and watching for the other officers as they ran crowd control. Gavin walked in line with the RK as they approached.

“So, you gonna tell me what the hell I’m walking into or am I supposed to take a wild guess?” he asked as Chris gave them a polite nod and they head towards the doors.

“Some homeless humans seemed to stumble upon a red ice lab in this factory, while they were looking for somewhere to sleep. It would seem that whoever they disturbed wasn’t too happy for the intrusion.”

He wasn’t wrong about that; two bodies lay in the hallway as they passed. The forensics teams already working their magic on them but even Gavin could tell they had made a run for it, shot down maybe a couple of feet from the door, poor bastards.

They walked down the hall and two heavy metal doors were held open by other officers. Inside he could see the makings of a red ice lab, just like the RK had said. It was shoddy, thrown together and as they looked it over he could see more and more parts being held together with tape.

“What a hack job.” he commented and the RK seemed to give him a strange look. “Poor craftsmanship.”

Gavin chuckled to himself as it didn’t seem to appreciate his joke, scowling at him and continuing its walk around. Chris appeared by his side and Gavin reached blindly for the clipboard that was being handed to him from his right.

“I’m guessing you know the basics?” Chris asked as Gavin idly flipped through the paperwork.

“Yeah, RoboCop over there filled me in nicely.” he shot a smug look at the RK, which it seemed to ignore but he could tell it had heard the comment by the scowl it gave the floor. “Not that I’d need half a brain to work this one out.”

He passed the board back and Chris sighed. “Yeah, there’s another guy outside, says he was with the two but fell behind when he stopped to check the dumpsters. He heard it all go down and hid until it was over.”

“He’s outside?” Chris nodded and Gavin shot a wave at the RK. “You, don’t fuck with anything. I’ll be right back.”

“You aren’t leaving are you detective, because if you leave I-” The RK began rambling, stepping towards him. Gavin huffed out a sigh as he threw his hand up.

“Shut up. I’m not leaving, I’m going to talk to a witness. You know, _m_ _y job_?”Gavin turned and walked back towards the exit, Chris chuckled beside him and Gavin shot him a hard look. “Shut the fuck up.”

“You look so happy.”

“Yeah, fuckin peachy.” Gavin sighed and Chris shook his head.

“Guys over there, ambulance crew have been keeping him calm.”

Gavin headed toward the open ambulance, true to his word there was a scruffy looking guy sat in the back, silver blanket wrapped around him. Gavin pointed to the badge on his hip as he approached.

“I’m Detective Reed, with the Detroit police. The officer over there told me you were here when this happened?”

The man was shaking, clearly coming down from shock. He told him what had happened, that they had just been searching for somewhere sheltered to sleep when the door had opened and the other two had gone in. He said he’d stayed behind to check for food, he was hunting through the dumpster when he’d heard the shouting inside.

Gavin nodded along as he talked, taking in the way the spoke of the other two. They were clearly friends. The man told him he’d hid behind the dumpster when he’d heard shots, he heard people running after the shots but hadn’t been brave enough to get a good look at them.

Gavin put a hand to his shoulder and gave him a sympathetic smile. “You did good, don’t beat yourself up about it. We’ll find who did this.”

Gavin pulled back and gave the ambulance crew a small signal, at least the guy would have a warm bed to sleep in tonight. They began helping him stand and moved him further into the vehicle, closing the doors with a final nod, one Gavin returned.

“He wasn’t injured.” The voice startled the shit out of him and Gavin turned to glare at the RK standing behind him. 

“The fuck are you doing? Don’t sneak up on me like that, jackass.” Gavin scolded and the RK just continued to stare at him blankly. 

“He wasn’t injured, there is no need for him to receive medical treatment.” 

Gavin sighed and crossed his arms over his chest, looking it up and down with a glare.

“He was scared. He’s just heard his buddies, probably the only people he knew, be shot in the back. The last thing he needs is to worry about a place to sleep tonight.” Gavin turned and began walking back to the car. “Fucking androids.”

Footsteps followed behind him before the RK fell in line with his steps and began walking next to him.

“The evidence I collected was enough to create a detailed case report. I also found hair and tissue samples around the work area and was able to find a possible match, the details I have forwarded to the department, in hope they will give us an arrest warrant.”

“Good for you.” Gavin grumbled, sticking his hands in his pockets. 

“I can show you what I compiled when we reach the station, we can go over details with your witness statement.”

Gavin stopped and it took a moment for the RK to catch on, leaving him a couple of steps ahead. The RK stopped and turned back to looked at him as Gavin sighed. “Is there something wrong detective?”

“What’s the point of me?” he shrugged his shoulders at it. “You gathered evidence, no doubt you created a perfect reconstruction of what happened, and now you’re telling me you’ve found the guy before they’ve even taken down the tape line?”

Gavin shrugged again. “What’s the point of me? The fuck am I here for if you can do everything, twice as fast and better than I ever could.”

The android seemed to study him for a moment before tilting its head slightly. “You are human.”

Gavin snorted. “No shit, Sherlock.”

“Fuck you, Watson.” The RK parroted back in it's casual steady tone and Gavin’s jaw dropped, his eyes widened as the RK gazed back at him.

He hadn’t heard that in years, not since he was a kid and he and his brother would fight. 

“The fuck did you learn that?” RK simply shrugged, a small gesture that looked a little stuff coming from him. Gavin let out a small laugh before shaking his head. “Unbelievable, wonders of technology.”

“To further your point detective, and to answer your questions; you are human. Humans understand each other better than I ever could simulate. For example, I would never have thought to send that man to the hospital, it seemed like a waste of resources.”

“Yeah, well when I was a kid, shit like that wasn’t free. Now the guy has somewhere to rest and he doesn’t have to pay a cent.” Gavin shook his head before looked dead at the android, head tilting in thought as he looked it over with a frown. “You _really_ would have let him go?”

RK replied with a nod and Gavin sighed before moving forward again. “People praise your intelligence.”


	2. The Common Ground

March. 3rd. 2039. 

The days went by in an uneventful blur; Gavin coming in, ignoring the RK as aggressively as he could manage without breaking something, and then going home to bitch about it to the cat. 

Stupid small shit would start an argument every now and again, but that’s what happened when you got stuck on a case with nothing happening around it. 

People used drugs, it was bad, those people were arrested. Perps were interrogated, nothing ever came of it, they’d end the day with no new leads, and boom. Back to square one. 

Gavin hated Narcotics, it was slow and boring and how the hell Anderson had put up with it for years he did not know, because he was ready to throw himself out the window and he’d only been doing this for a couple of weeks. 

Speaking of throwing things out of windows, the RK was doing the thing again where it stared at him until he snapped. 

“Stop _looking_ at me.” 

“I wasn’t looking at you, I was running a diagnostic.” It snapped back at him. 

“Close your fucking eyes.” Gavin growled at it. The RK gave him a glare and looked back towards the terminal. Gavin sighed and reached for his coffee. 

 

March. 5th. 2039 

“I’m not in your way, Detective.” RK sighed at him, jaw tight as Gavin tried to look past it for the third time. 

“Just fucking move.” 

It shot him a dirty look. 

“Maybe you should do your work instead of watching the TV.” 

“Maybe you should shut your fucking mouth.” 

 

March. 8th. 2039. 

“Take your feet off the desk.” 

“It’s my desk. I’ll put what I want, where I want, if I want. Fuck you.” Gavin punctuated his statement with a middle finger. 

“You are a waste of space.” 

“You’re a waste of electricity.” 

 

March. 9th. 2039 

“Suck my dick!” 

“Fuck you, detective.” 

“You’ll have to buy me dinner first, prick.” Gavin flicked a pen at its head. 

The RK caught it easily. “But I can suck your dick for free?” It threw the pen back at him, hitting him in the chest. “What a common whore.” 

Connor sighed and put his head in his hand as Gavin and RK900 began arguing again. 

“What the hell are they squabbling about now?” Hank asked looking over and watching the two, Connor shook his head tiredly. 

“Nines walked into his desk, knocking his coffee.” he groaned as the two opposite continued yelling at each other, Gavin’s hand gestures getting a little out of control the angrier he became. 

“He do it by accident?” He asked, confused and Connor sighed. 

“Of course not.” Hank hummed in response before tilting his head at him in question. 

“Nines?” Hank pulled a face but Connor didn’t even lift his head to acknowledge it. 

“Yes, I gave him a nickname, he likes it.” 

“You got a nickname?” 

“Eight.” 

“Inspired.” 

“I’m about to give you an inspiring nickname.” Connor shot back and Hank pulled a face at him. 

“Like you haven’t already.” He quipped back childishly, Connor simply smiled. 

 

March. 11th. 2039 

The slam that echoed out across the bullpen as Gavin was thrown against the wall was enough to have everyone stop and stare. Gavin’s head made an awful sound as it collided with the plaster, he squeezed his eyes shut, gritting his teeth over a wince as pain went in shockwaves through it. 

RK has holding him up against the wall, fists clenched tightly in his jacket as it held him up on the tips of his toes. Its face was almost blank, but Gavin would see the little furrow in its brows and widened eyes that he knew the RK was raging inside. 

“So, what now,” Gavin baited in a hushed tone. “You gonna hit me? Go on, see how that works out for you.” 

The RK shoved him again, pressing him further into the wall with the strong shake that made Gavin’s teeth click together. 

“RK900!” Anderson’s voice rang out from over RK’s shoulder and Gavin gave it a smug grin. 

“Busted.” 

“Put him down, now.” Gavin rushed out a quiet laugh as RK slowly lowered him back to his feet. “As much as we’d all like to beat the shit out of Detective Reed-” 

“Thanks.” Gavin huffed. 

“Shut up.” Hank sighed and Gavin saw him come to stand behind RK. “You can’t just go around assaulting your fellow officers.” 

RK turned toward Hank, as if to apologise when Connor’s voice cut over him. 

“Are you bleeding?” 

Gavin frowned and looked back over his shoulder to where Connor was pointing, and noticed the small streak of blood on the wall. He put a hand to his head and winced as his fingers found where it had hit the wall, pulling them back quickly he realized. Shit, yeah, he was. 

“Huh.” 

Connor sighed and moved around RK who was intensely staring at Gavin. “I’ll deal with it.” 

“I’m fine.” Gavin shrugged him off, throwing his arm back when Connor tried to move him along and made his own was towards the breakroom. Connor turned back to Hank, who waved him off with a grunt, before following him. 

Gavin grabbed the cloth from the side and ran it under the cold water, out the corner of his eye he watched Connor approach and failed to fight back the roll of his eyes. 

“You don’t have to babysit me, I can deal with it.” Connor responded by grabbing the cloth from his hands and dragging him by his arm to sit. “What the fuck?” 

“Be quiet.” Connor instructed, before pulling his head down and forward, and pressing the cold cloth to his head with little care. 

“Ow, fuck.” Gavin hissed, squirming in his seat. 

Fucking androids. 

He looked up as he heard the click of RK’s dress shoes coming closer and fought against Connor’s hold on him to lift his head. RK stopped in front of him, looking as stoic and uncaring as before, face blank as Hank moved behind him and crossed his arms over his chest. 

RK shot him a half glance over its shoulder before looking to Gavin. “I’m sorry.” 

Gavin snorted. “Yeah, right.” 

RK’s eyes narrowed ever so slightly. Connor pressed a little harder at the back of Gavin’s head, forcing a groan out of him. “Shit, alright. I get it. Fucking apology accepted.” 

“Good,” Hank’s voice followed up. “Now that’s over with, RK900 go find the PC200 outside and help them conduct their trash walk, when you’re done, come back to me. Understood?” 

“Yes, lieutenant.”  

RK walked away and Hank moved closer, he pulled Gavin’s head forward in the same manner Connor had, ignoring Gavin’s wince and gave him a once over before pushing his head back. 

“So, what did you do this time?”  

Gavin wasn’t impressed at the fact he was clearly loving this. 

“I didn’t do shit.” Gavin hissed, swiping back at Connor aimlessly and pushing him away as he moved to stand. “Nothing that I haven’t done before, anyway.” 

Gavin snatched the now bloodied cloth from Connor’s hand and put it back to his head, Connor rolled his eyes before moving to stand next to Hank. 

“Well maybe if you didn’t continuously piss off your partner, he wouldn’t have you against the wall.” Hank countered and Gavin shot him a glare. 

“Like you never put him,” he threw a quick point at Connor. “Against a wall before.” 

Hank opened his mouth to argue when Connor hummed in agreement and nodded casually next to him. 

“That’s different.” Hank protested and Conner gave him a disbelieving look. 

“Was it?” he asked and Hank sighed. 

“Okay, you know what. This isn’t about me, this is about him.” he pointed to Gavin who sat smirking at him. “Maybe you should know what team you’re on.” 

“He has a point lieutenant, you weren’t exactly friendly when we were first partnered up.” 

Hank turned to face him and Gavin sighed, leaning back against the table, hand still up at his head. 

“Are you really bringing this up now?” 

“You’re only mad because you know I’m right.” Connor countered, a hint of a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. “Besides, I haven’t heard Gavin threaten to ‘put all of us in a dumpster and light it on fire’ yet, so if anything, they are getting along better than you and I did.” 

Hank shot Gavin a startled look and Gavin returned it with his own impressed smug smirk. Hank held up is hand and shook his head. 

“Fine, be on his side. But the point is, you,” he pointed at Gavin. “Go say sorry.” 

Gavin threw his free hand out. “The fuck did I do?” 

Hank let out a heavy sigh. “Just make peace and stop causing arguments, I’m sick of hearing you two bitching at each other from across the pen.” 

Gavin held back the smart remark as Hank turned to walk away, Connor watched him go before looking back to him. Gavin narrowed his eyes at him as he seemed to be looking him over. 

“What?” he huffed, a move Connor chose to ignore. 

“You and RK900 have a lot more in common than you think.” 

Gavin sputtered on an insult as Connor shrugged lightly before walking back to his desk. Gavin moved to pick up what was left of his pride before throwing the bloody towel in the general direction of the sink and made a move for the back door. 

The PC200’s usually did the trash walk out back, before moving to the head of the station and then to the parking lot. Gavin figured his best shot was to head out back and make his way around until he ran into someone with a trash bag. 

His plan never made it past the first step as he swung the door open and headed out onto the ramp, he spotted the RK standing and just watching the other androids pick up trash. Gavin snorted, crossing his arms over his chest as RK shot him a dirty look. 

“Doing a good job, I see.” Gavin smirked and RK turned to face him, arms folded behind his back. 

“If Lieutenant Anderson thinks I will waste my time picking up mess, he is mistaken.” It simply fired back and Gavin cocked his head to the side. 

“Didn’t know you could disobey orders from your superior.” The RK seemed to flinch, whatever retort it had got stuck before it could make it and Gavin eyed it over suspiciously. “Unless, he isn’t.” 

RK turned its head but Gavin caught the sneer it was trying to hide. “Fowler?” 

“No.” RK grit out and it took a moment to settle before Gavin’s eyes widened in glee. 

“Ho-ly shit.” RK’s head snapped towards him, if looks could kill, Gavin would have been paste. “It’s me isn’t it. I’m your superior.” 

Gavin actually jumped on the spot, hands flying to the railing in front of him, the one thing separating him and the RK as he grinned down at it. 

“It’s fucking me, isn’t it! I’m the one you have to obey.” Gavin laughed and waved down at the RK. “This is the best news I’ve heard all week. Man, at least Connor had Fowler to save his ass, but you. Wow, they must hate you huh.” 

Gavin grinned down at the RK, who was giving him a continuous death stare.  

This was the best. He could make it do anything. Coffee? Coming right up. Grab me those files? Yes, detective.  

Gavin was too busy laughing to himself that he didn’t see the RK pick up a glass bottle from the floor and launch it at him. 

It hit him in the shoulder with a solid thud, knocking Gavin sideways in a stumble, before bouncing back and shattering on the floor between them. Gavin froze and turned his head slowly to stare down at the other. The RK was stood, arms crossed, glaring up at him. 

“What. The fuck?” 

“You are a brat.” RK snapped at him. “You are not my superior and I will never take an order from you.” 

Gavin bit back the snarl threatening to jump from his throat. “You’ll do whatever the fuck I say!” 

“Or what?” The RK challenged. “You are a child in a Halloween costume, playing dress up and pretending to be something you’re not.” 

“You don’t know anything about me!” 

“I know enough.” RK snapped back. “I know how petty and insecure you are, and I don’t need to read a file to see who you are as an officer.” 

“Fuck you!” Gavin leaned over the railing, pointing a finger to the other. “You’re wrong. I’m a good cop and I care about people, what about you? You don’t have a clue.” 

“Don’t I?” 

“No! You don’t know the first thing about helping people, just because you’re full of fancy tech crap doesn’t mean you care! You’re empty inside, pretending to give a shit but feeling nothing.” Gavin sneered down at it. “You can’t feel, you don’t understand pain or fear, and you can’t be a good cop without empathy.” 

Gavin let out a breath before turning towards the door and swinging it open. “I might be a complete prick, but at least I’m human.” 

 

March. 13th. 2039. 

Tina rolled her eyes at him over her drink. “So, you two are ignoring each other.” 

“Pretty much.” Gavin took another swig of his beer. His fifth beer. Fuck it, it was a Saturday and his first weekend off in over a month. 

“I just can’t believe it cracked your head against the wall.” She laughed and Gavin turned to scowl at her. “I’ve been wanting to do that for years. If I knew I’d just get away with it, you’d be fucked.” 

“You beat the shit out of me enough as it is.” 

Tina hummed into her bottle. “Yeah, but if I knew I’d be able to fuck you up all the time, you’d never be off the floor.” 

She laughed and Gavin huffed, taking a long drink. 

“I’m glad you find my abuse so fucking funny.” 

“Awe come on, it is funny.” She draped her arms over his shoulders. “They finally gave you a partner you couldn’t scare away.” 

Gavin snorted into his beer but raised a hand to pat her arm anyway. “I think it hates me, like really hates me.” 

“Well, no big loss, right?” 

“Right.” Gavin hummed and Tina nudged him.  

“What’s wrong?” 

Gavin paused, fingers picking at the label on his bottle. “It’s nothing.” 

“Wow,” Gavin looked up at her as she let out a small laugh. “It’s getting to you isn’t it?” 

“No. Shut up.” 

“It is! You don’t like that it doesn’t like you.”  

“No! I don’t give a fuck what it thinks of me. I just...” Gavin sighed and took another long drink. “Why hasn’t it left yet? Like it’s been weeks and it still hangs around. Anyone else would have gone.” 

“Yeah, because anyone else is human. Android’s don’t feel.” 

“T, he threw me against a wall in anger. That’s pretty human to me.” Tina watched him as he took another long drink. 

“What, you think it’s deviant?” 

“Maybe.” Gavin hummed into his bottle. “I don’t think it hates me because I’m me. It squares up to me, it’s not like Connor was, it talks back to me.” 

Tina raised a brow at him. “So, your androids givin’ you sass?” 

“Yeah!” Gavin laughed. “It’s like the fuckin robot version of me. Well, the better robot version of me.” 

Tina let out a small chuckle and Gavin offered her a small smile. Fucking androids. 

“It should be like me, we’re the fucking same.” Gavin gave her a thoughtful glance. “Do you think it’s because I’m gay?” 

“Oh, Gavin don’t be fucking dumb.” Tina rested her head on his shoulder and he moved to rest his against hers. “It just hates you because you’re a cunt.” 

Gavin snorted. “Thanks.” 

 

March. 15th. 2039 

“You need to grow up, detective.” 

“That’s rich, coming from the plastic prick that had me against the wall last week!” 

“That’s enough! Break it up!” A hand grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back, he turned to see Hank pointing between the two of them. 

“He started it!” Gavin defended, gesturing wildly at the RK stood poised and stoic next to him, and Hank raised a hand to silence him. 

“I don’t give a shit, I’m finishing it! Jesus, you two are like god damn children and it’s driving me nuts.” Hank sighed and pointed to the door. “Go out and work together, so you can come back and be quiet!” 

RK followed the instructions with a nod and began walking to the door, Gavin moved to argue but Hank pointed to the door again. 

“I don’t want to hear it. Go.” 

Gavin spat out a curse as he reluctantly followed behind the RK, Hank sighed and ran his hand over his face. Connor snorted from behind him and he turned to give him a stern look. 

“You wanna join them?” Connor held his hands up in a surrender before going back to his work. 

 

They hadn’t even reached the end of the street when a call came through, an arrest warrant on one of their leads was effective and the two were set on a course to the block a street down from where the warehouse had been. The neighbourhood was wrecked, houses all kinds of falling apart. People crowding on porches looking cold and miserable, at least his apartment was warm he thought to himself as they drove past more and more in the same state. 

They finally found the house, another fitting addition to the others, with its missing roof tiles and boarded up top window. Gavin stepped out the car and gave the RK a quick nod to follow him close. His hand went to his gun and unclasped it, ready if anyone decided to do anything stupid. 

RK followed his lead as Gavin knocked on the door three times. No answer. 

“See if there’s anything ‘round back.” Gavin instructed and RK nodded once before heading down and around. Gavin knocked again before trying the handle, the door swung open with a soft creak and revealed a dark and dim interior. 

“Hello?” He called out, taking small and steady steps inside. “Detroit Police, I’m here to ask you a few questions.” 

There was nothing, a dead end. Gavin was about to cut his losses when he heard something click around the back. His gun was removed and he led with it tightly in his hands as he worked his way forward. 

“Hello? Anybody home?” 

He rounded the corner and the door swung open, his gun raised on instinct as he took a step back to steel himself. He came face to face with RK900. 

“Fuck,” he sighed lowering his gun and holding up a hand. “What have I told you about doing that shit.” 

“Sorry detective. The door was open, I came to check inside.” It didn’t look very sorry. 

“Yeah, well warn me next time.” Gavin sighed before looking back around the room. “Find anything?” 

RK shook his head. “Nothing of note, an old set of footprints but nothing I can track.” 

“Great.” Gavin sighed again, hooking his gun back into place but keeping the latch free just in case. “Well if that’s the case then we should go, you close the back door?” 

RK nodded and Gavin waved it to follow. They left the house and Gavin pulled the car around, moving to a driveway down the street, a couple of houses away. This one seemed as empty as the other and so he figured no one would mind him holding a stakeout there. 

 

“Detective, how long are we planning on sitting here?” Gavin looked over at the other and gave it a smug smile. 

“You never been on a stakeout before?” RK simply shot him a glare and Gavin let out a small laugh. “First time for everything. They suck, you’re gonna love it.” 

 

“Will you stop twitching? Fuck, you’re worse than Connor.” 

RK placed a hand over his knee. “I’m not doing it on purpose.” He grit out, trying to find what part of his programming was causing the twitch so he could exnihilate it. 

“Just fucking sit still, thought you were advanced.” 

“I am.” RK stubbornly replied glaring down at his own leg and Gavin let out a snort.  

 

“Can't you turn that thing off?” 

“Can’t you stop breathing?” 

 

“It was an accident.” 

RK gave him a disbelieving look. “So, she stabbed you on accident.” 

“Yes, prick. We were drunk, it was a dare and she missed.” 

“I find that hard to believe. I’d stab you if offered the opportunity.” 

“And that’s why you’ll never get one.” 

 

“I spy with my lit-” 

“No.” 

 

“Was that your stomach?” 

RK seemed offended by the loud growl his body made, reminding Gavin that he hadn't had more than a piece of toast and two cups of coffee that day. Gavin gave him an indignant look back and waved at the house they had been watching for the past four hours. 

“Did you see me go get lunch? No, I’ve been sat here with you, asshole.” 

“This was your idea.” 

“Yes, thank you captain obvious, what would I do without you.” Gavin sighed and wrapped his arm around his stomach, hoping that apply some pressure would stop it from arguing with him. “Just ignore it.” 

“You’re starving.” RK snapped back and Gavin wrapped his arms around himself a little tighter. 

“I'm fine, just shut up and watch the house.” 

 

“Detective.” Gavin was falling asleep; they’d been here for over five hours, nothing had happened and he had gone far past the point of hunger. He looked up as the other called his name and followed the RK watch as he glanced out the window. “That’s our suspect.” 

They watched as a man walked up to the house, suspiciously eyeing the home before cautiously stepping inside. Gavin and the RK moved in sync, both darting from the car and towards the house. Gavin unclipped his firearm once more as they approached. 

Just as RK reached the door, foot raised and ready to kick it in, a shotgun blast echoed out across the street and RK was sent flying back. Gavin watched as he fell, landing on his back at the bottom of the stairs with a groan, shards of wood scattering down around him. 

“Shit!” Gavin cursed throwing himself back to the wall, gun raised high in warning as he glanced through the now crumbling door. “Detroit police, drop your weapon!” 

Gavin looked down to see RK scrambling to the side and hiding behind the porch stairs. At least he was moving, Gavin noted. Didn’t have to worry about that paperwork. He looked down at him and through the guard rail he could see RK checking himself over, he watched as RK ripped open his shirt, assessing the damage before he looked up and gave him a thumbs up, turning and crouching at the bottom of the stairs. 

Gavin counted off in his head before rushing forward and kicking away what was left of the door, he moved quickly ducking behind a wall before covering RK as he came in. RK began scanning the area, pointing quickly towards the kitchen and Gavin moved behind him. 

The door swung open again and this time, the two managed to dodge as another round fired off. RK didn’t waste any time. Knowing he would have to reload, he charged the door, hitting it hard and into the man who was standing behind it. 

The man fought back, Gavin could hear the signs of a struggle but was overpowered easily, Gavin pushed through just in time to see RK slam him against the wall, hands cuffed tightly behind his back. 

“You’re under arrest on suspicion of murder, and attempted murder of an officer.” He cited off as he stepped forward and looked over RK’s handiwork.” You have the right to remain silent and refuse to answer questions. Anything you say may be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to consult an attorney before speaking to the police and to have an attorney present during questioning now or in the future.” 

RK gave him an impressed look and Gavin shot him a smug smile back. “What, didn’t think I’d say it did you?” 

RK returned his smile with his own as he shook his head. “I didn’t think you knew it.” 

“Hey, I know my rights.” Gavin held his hands up with a smile and RK pulled the assailant from the wall and began marching him through the house. Gavin followed and was surprised to see blue flashing lights outside. “The fuck?” 

“I called them the second he put a round into my chest.” RK simply replied as they walked. 

Oh shit, yeah. The dude shot the shit out of him. Gavin stopped short for a moment and the RK noticed his drop in pace. “I’m fine detective, a little damage but nothing irreparable.” 

“You sure, he got you pretty point blank in the chest?” 

RK nodded. “I’m not human, detective. I can take it.” 

Gavin huffed before giving RK a wave and the android carried on walking the man to the others. Gavin followed behind, waving at the officers pulling up and moving toward them. 

“Take his ass back to the station.” Gavin instructed half-heartedly as RK handed the man over. “Stick him in a cell and we’ll get to him when the paper work is done.” 

RK watched the whole exchange, as the man was led to one of the patrol cars and put in the back. Gavin came up and stood beside him, he gave him a light swat on the arm to catch his attention. 

“Come on, let’s follow them back.” 

The drive was quiet and they pulled up next to the patrol car at pretty much the same time. RK was out the car before Gavin had even turned off the engine and following the officers who were taking the man into custody. 

Gavin sighed and followed behind, RK had come to a stop by his desk as he watched the officers take the man to his cell. Gavin moved to stand next to him, he took a moment to look him over. His shirt was missing a button, whether it was from the shot or him ripping it open he didn’t know, his jacket was stained with blue and his shirt had a shine to it that he figured was blood. 

“Alright, let’s go get you cleaned up.” 

Gavin began walking towards the breakroom, making it only a few steps before he realized that, for once, he wasn’t being followed. He turned to see RK just staring at him blankly. 

“Come on.” He gestured at the other but he didn’t move. “Okay, what is wrong with you?” 

“I’m fine, detective.” He sounded confused. 

“Yes, I get that. But you’re a mess and I’m a good partner, so get your ass over here so we can tidy you up a bit.” Gavin gave him a pointed look and RK looked to be weighing up his options. “If you don’t get over here right now, I’m going to fill that pot with boiling water and just throw it on you.” 

RK pulled a face at him but began walking toward him nevertheless. Gavin let out a sigh and moved to grab and towel from the side, running it under the water before turning back to the other. Gavin pointed at him as he stood uncomfortably in the middle of the room. 

“Sit down.” 

“I assure you Detective, there’s no need for this.” He was complaining but he did as he was told, backing up and sitting on one of the stools by the table. 

Gavin nodded at him and held his hands out. “Yes, and I don’t care. Take your shirt off.” 

RK hesitated and looked down at himself. Gavin let out a sigh and waved a hand at him. 

“I’m not going to violate you, just do as I say, alright.” 

RK nodded and began unbuttoning the rest of his shirt, Gavin waited patiently, idly playing with the wet towel in his hand, as the other removed his jacket and then his shirt. RK laid them out on the table and turned to look back at Gavin who was walking towards him. 

“You hu- uh damaged?” he asked and RK shook his head. “You sure about that?” 

Gavin poked at his chest and RK looked down to see the skin around where the blast had hit was a little patchy. Small but apparent circles were visible in his skin, revealing shallow dints and patches of glitching white around them. 

“I’m fine.” 

Gavin snorted and shook his head. “You keep saying that, but if you were human,” he pointed at the markings on the RK chest. “That looks an awful lot like some real shitty bruising to me.” 

“It’s nothing, some minor damage. It will clear over time; my skin is simulated and so it doesn’t hold the properties of healing, I simply need to reset the program.” 

“Thought you said you weren’t damaged?” He smiled smugly and RK rolled his eyes, Gavin looked down at him for a moment before tilting his head to the side. “Can you do that now?” 

RK hesitated again and Gavin watched him as he fidgeted with his hand in his lap. He looked almost nervous, Gavin wasn’t aware androids could feel self-conscious. He decided to throw him a bone. 

“I can go wait in the car, if you want.” he offered pointing back. “I can leave you alone to clean up if me being here is stopping you, but you are cleaning up” 

RK shook his head lightly and Gavin watched as RK closed his eyes, the LED at his temple running yellow for a moment, before his skin began to recede. He’d never really seen androids without their skin before, not walking and talking anyway. Not that he went around looking for it, but now as he looked down at RK, curiosity took a hold, his mind running with questions. 

Did Connor look like that too? Could he still feel? How did it work? Was it uncomfortable? Could RK feel his skin moving? 

Before he could begin to ask RK’s skin began to reform and any and all marks were gone as the new program was back up and running. There was still blood around where he’d been hit, he could make out where the blast had caught him by the outline it made. 

“You’re staring.” RK snapped him out of his head and Gavin cleared his throat. 

“Sorry, I uh... I’m used to patching up humans, not robots. This is... new.” 

“I told you before, I don’t need you to do this.” Gavin shook his head at him defensively. 

“It’s not about that. If I were shot, I’d want my partner to make sure I was alright.” 

“If you were shot, you’d be dead.” RK scoffed at him and Gavin pulled a face. 

“Shut up and sit still.” Gavin moved and began wiping away the blue blood over his collarbone, RK was watching him, even if he wasn’t looking he would feel his eyes following him. “So how does this work? Because you took it off, but the blood is still there. Is it a part of your-” 

It occurred to Gavin that he didn’t really know the word for what he was trying to say. Chassis? Bone? Skeleton? Frame? 

RK seemed to understand where he was going thankfully and gave him a small nod. 

“It’s a program that runs through my body, like a low-level hologram if you will, that runs under the very surface.” He held up his hand and Gavin watched as the skin rolled back again, revealing the bare joints before returning. “The entire program is made from Nano technology, each nanite forms the projection, and what is created is the image of skin.” 

“So, you could look like anything you want?” Gavin asked, still patting down the blue blood across his chest.  

“Not exactly. I can change my hair and my skin tone, yes. But I can't change my features. My eye colour, for example, is preordained. I will always have blue eyes unless the biocomponent itself is changed.” 

“That’s crazy.” Gavin murmured and RK tilted his head in question but didn’t make a move to ask him to elaborate. 

“When damaged, the nanites break apart, leaving bare parts and therefore leaving what you called bruising.” Gavin hummed as he spoke, seemingly taking in the information without question. “It is simply the hologram failing, the only way to regain them and fill the bare spaces is to reset the program.” 

“Like when you load an image and something fucks up?” 

“In a way, yes.”  

Gavin hummed again before taking a step back and throwing the towel onto the table. He looked RK over before nodding and making a move towards the back, he turned back to point to the other. 

“Don’t move, I’ll be back in a minute. And don’t put those back on.” 

“Okay.” RK simply replied and he watched as Gavin walked away around the corner. He looked to his folded clothes and pulled his shirt from the pile. He assessed the damage, maybe it would have been salvageable if there weren’t a littering of tiny holes in the front, one of which placed where a button once was. 

Gavin rounded the corner a few moments later and threw a ball of fabric at him, RK caught it easily and unravelled it. 

“It’s a spare shirt, should fit.” RK gave him a look and Gavin huffed. “It’s clean.” 

RK pulled it on and was pleasantly surprised when the light grey Henley fit him comfortably, well maybe the sleeves were a little short but he fixed that easily by rolling them to his elbows. Gavin made a small noise of approval and RK looked up at him. 

“Looks a lot better than that high neck crap you wear all the time.” he chuckled, coming over and grabbing the blue stained towel. 

“It’s my uniform.” RK quipped back and Gavin snorted as he threw the towel in the bin. 

“No, it's not. You’re a detective, like me.” Gavin pointed down at himself, before spinning on his heals in a full circle and waving a hand down at himself. “See. Not a formal piece in sight.” 

RK raised a brow at him and Gavin huffed as he walked towards him. “Point is, you don’t need to wear that crap. Wear what you want. So long as you can run in it, and you don’t care if it gets ruined, wear what you want.” 

“If wearing what I want leaves me dressing like you, I’d rather keep my uniform.” 

Gavin’s jaw dropped as the RK shot him a smile – a true, teeth and all, genuine smile – before grabbing his ruined clothes and began walking towards the exit. 

What the fuck. 

“Are you coming, detective?” RK called after him and Gavin snapped his mouth shut. 

“Yeah, yeah. Shut your plastic trap, I’m moving.” 

Gavin followed him out the station and towards his car, the thought popped up in the back of his mind that he had no real idea where RK stayed the night. He’d assumed it was at the station but now he guessed that he had a place somewhere at least. 

He was about to ask when a rush of nausea hit him, making his stomach churn and twist almost painfully. Gavin put a hand to his stomach to try and calm the sudden hit of sickness. He tried to ignore it, stepping down the curb to the car but as his foot landed, his knees gave out under him, his legs suddenly turned to mush as the wave of exhaustion hit him.  

The sudden drop as he hit the pavement made his vison swim and he shut his eyes tight as colours swam under his eyelids.  

Oh no. This was not good. His body had gone into survival mode in second RK had been shot but now that he was calming down, he realized that high adrenaline on a very empty stomach does not a good idea make. He was going into shock. 

He reached for something to hold to keep him upright, hand scrambling blindly until he hit something solid. Or someone. Gavin opened his eyes to see RK kneeling in front of him, LED spinning a bright yellow as he looked him over, concern washing over his face. 

“Are you hurt?” 

“I’m fine.” He managed to choke out as his head swam as a rush of dizziness hit him. “Oh shit.” 

Gavin shut his eyes tightly as he tried to take deep breaths. RK placed a hand on his shoulder to steady him as he swayed. He just needed to get home.  

“I’m okay... Just... need a minute.” 

RK must have known he was about to black out because the second he felt himself getting lightheaded, he was being lowered to the floor. The last thing Gavin saw was RK leaning forward to place his hand on his head. 

 

 _“Gavin! Gavin_ _wait_ _!” Footsteps following quickly behind, rushed hurried. The bag on his shoulder was heavy, strap_ _digging_ _into his shoulder._  

 _“Leave me alone.” Crying, he was crying. Neighbours drawing back curtains to stare, two brothers arguing in the street. He wasn’t their entertainment._  

 _“Gavin, please. Let me explain!”_  

 _Fury. Betrayal. Disappointment._  

 _He’s fighting the urge to throw up._  

 _“Explain what!? You don’t want me here! Not you, not them, not anyone!”_  

 _He doesn’t need to be here anymore. They have no use for him._  

 _“I didn’t do this to hurt you! I didn’t mean to-”_  

 _“Didn’t mean to what, Eli? You know, I expected this from them,” Tears. More tears. Not just his. “But not you! I thought better of you. And I thought you_ _thought better of me_ _. I guess not.”_  

 _Walking faster, something digging into his back, shuffling the bag doesn’t help. Fuck it._  

 _His name’s being called behind him._  

 _He doesn’t look back._  

 _Keep walking._  

 _Keep moving._  

 _You’re on your own now._  

 

March. 16th. 2039 

Gavin startled awake. He blinked up at his ceiling with a heavy sigh.  

Wait.  

He was on his bed, cat sat on his chest meowing at him in a tone that spoke unimpressed down to a tee. He looked down at himself and pulled his cover back, well he was not wearing this yesterday. 

Gavin looked at the cat as if he would give him the answers he wanted, but as expected, it jumped from the bed and made its way out the room. 

He climbed out of bed and noted that he was in an old black pair of sweatpants and a grey loose shirt he hadn’t seen for years, where the fuck had these come from? Who the hell dug these out? What the fuck was going on? 

He made his way down the hall and towards the kitchen, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. 

“Good morning, Detective Reed.” 

Gavin did not scream. He didn’t. There was no evidence. 

“What the fuck!?” he cried, hand to his chest as he felt his heart race. The RK was stood in the middle of his kitchen and... wait a minute. “Did.... did you fucking clean my kitchen?” 

“No.” Gavin took a moment to appreciate the blatant lie, until, “I cleaned your apartment.” 

Gavin’s jaw dropped as he sputtered. 

“Why the fuck would you do that, you’re a detective, not a fucking maid.” RK just shrugged and it only fuelled Gavin’s irritation. “What the fuck are you doing here? What the fuck is going on?” 

“You passed out on duty last night, after I checked you over I advised you to go home and rest. You were obviously not conscious for this, so I brought you home.” 

Gavin kept staring. 

“You seemed uncomfortable so I found you some more appropriate sleep wear. Don’t worry, I didn’t feel the need to change your underwear.” Gavin gave a quick glance down at himself. “That was when I began to organise your wardrobe. When you didn’t wake I simply carried on, the cat came to the door not long after I was done and judging by the cat food you had, I guessed it was yours.” 

“Ha. Wrong asshole, he’s not mine, he’s just a cat.” 

RK gave him a perplexed look. “So why do you feed it?” 

“Because it’s kind, alright. Why are you still here?” Gavin moved forward and towards his coffee maker... that was surprisingly clean, wow, holy shit. 

“It seemed appropriate to have someone be there to check on you, the possibility of you vomiting in your sleep and choking on it was at a high, so I stayed to be sure you didn’t.” 

“And just think, a week ago you had threatened to kill me.” 

“I could say the same to you.” RK replied quietly, it suddenly occurred to Gavin that he was still wearing his shirt. 

Gavin snorted and nodded, continuing his own personal mission for coffee. 

“I guess you could.” he huffed flicking the switch and watching it boil. He looked around behind him and saw that his place had indeed been cleaned to shit. Even that cobweb he’d been staring at for the past six months had gone. How the hell did he manage to reach that. “You must have been... really bored.” 

RK made a small noise behind him and Gavin turned to see him give a small shrug. 

“You’re a heavy sleeper. I needed something to waste the time until you woke up. And  _not_  your cat is cute, he let me carry on in exchange for the occasional head pat.” 

Gavin looked down at the furball currently sitting between the two of them, as if begging both of them would work for it. “Traitor.” 

The cat seemed unfazed by the accusation and carried on purring gently between them. Gavin watched as RK moved to stand by him as he poured his coffee. 

“You should really invest some time into taking care of yourself, detective.” 

Gavin snorted into his cup. “I’m fine.” 

“That’s what you said yesterday, before you passed out at the foot of the station.” Gavin sighed and put his cup down. “I’m simply trying to help.” 

“Well don’t,” he snapped in return. “I don’t need you or anyone else taking care of me, alright. Just... You can go now. I’ll be at work in a couple of hours.” 

“I wouldn’t advice-” 

“What did I just say?” Gavin snapped. He made an effort of pointing to his door. “Thank you for your time, but leave me the fuck alone.” 

“Why is it that you can help me, but I can’t help you?” 

The RK simply quietly replied before he turned and made to leave, Gavin watched as he closed the door behind him before letting out a breath and looking down to the cat. 

“Strange guy wandering around the place and what do you do?” the cat came up to him and rubbed his head on his ankles, Gavin let out a sigh. “Yeah, pretty much, good job.”  

 

March. 29th. 2039 

Today had to be one of the most boring days Gavin had ever been a victim of.  

It was raining and cold so his smoke breaks had been cut in half due to him not wanting to be half drowned by the time he’d head back to his desk. Their case had been closed after RK had scared the living shit out of their suspect in the interrogation room and the dude had signed the confession while sitting in a pool of his own piss. 

They were no closer to find the suppliers, no closer to cracking down the main dealer, and all the lab equipment they had confiscated from the scene came back to nothing. 

There was nothing to do. 

Nothing. 

They had no cases. No investigation. He was sure that he was going to die of boredom any second now. 

At least he and RK were getting along. Well, he hadn’t been thrown against any walls lately, so ‘getting along’ was a loose term but it was fitting. 

Gavin had been flicking between texting Tina, sending various police related memes to Chris, and watching Hank and Connor as he waited for their replies. RK hadn’t told him to take his feet off the desk yet either to he also had that argument to look forward too. But he wasn’t exactly there too do so. 

RK had just straight up vanished. He’d been sat working away - on fuck knows what seen as there was nothing to do - when he’d just stood up and walked off. Gavin had watched him leave, contemplating following him before decided that he had much better ways of wasting his time. Like waiting for anyone to message him back. 

By the time he’d figured that it might have been a more interesting thing to do, RK was long gone and he didn’t even know where to start to try and find him. So, he’d gone for a smoke, come back to an empty desk and just sat watching Hank and Connor work opposite him. 

They were pretty dull to watch, idly chatting away but, every now and again, Hank would throw a stress ball at him and Connor would catch it easily. He’d clearly decided to make it a game, because now every throw was at random and at an odd angle. Connor caught them all obviously, without a hint of emotion. And simply threw it back like he wasn’t completely aware of what Anderson was doing. 

Tina was out on patrol and complaining about the weather mercilessly, all while describing the cute guys she was certainly not stalking on her drive around. 

Chris had the day off and Gavin wasn’t sure what he was doing, but it meant that there were long pauses between messages as he waited for his response when he saw them.  

Yes. It was that dull of a day. He was actually that bored. 

“Hold out your hand.” the voice came from behind him and Gavin froze, frowning down at his phone. 

“If you’re planning on stabbing me, friendly reminder that Tina beat you too it, months ago.” 

There was a sigh before a brown takeout cup was hovered into his eyeline. He looked up and saw RK holding the cup out in front of him with a blank face.  

Gavin raised a brow at him and RK rolled his eyes, shaking the cup a little before him. “It’s not poisoned.”  

“You sure about that?” Gavin took it anyway and watched as the other moved toward his own desk. 

“If I was going to kill you, I would be much more direct.” RK sat and turned to face him over the desks. “I’d make sure I could watch the life drain from your eyes.” 

“Good to know.” Gavin nodded before taking a careful sip. 

RK watched him and Gavin shook his head at him in return. 

“I’m not saying thank you, if that’s what you’re waiting for.”  

“I’m not holding my breath. Don’t worry.” 

“Didn’t know you needed to breathe.” 

“That’s why I’m not holding my breath.” RK shot him a short smug smile before going back to his work. 

Gavin snorted. “Smartass.” 

RK hummed in response. “I can see why Officer Chen stabbed you, I will remember to thank her for doing us all a service.” 

“She was drunk.” Gavin scoffed and held up his hand, fingers spread wide. “And it was a pencil, nothing like you’re thinking.” 

RK hummed again, a small noise of disappointment as he scanned the other and made note of the small pink scar just off the centre of his palm. RK shrugged lightly and Gavin lowered his hand. 

“Shame, I shall still thank her though.” 

Gavin had just opened his mouth when a crash came from across the bullpen. Both he and RK looked over as Connor sat, eyes closed, hands frozen on his desk as his desk lamp clattered around on the floor. Anderson was watching him with a wide-eyed look, clearly biting back a smile, hands raised slightly in a surrendering gesture. Gavin looked down as the ball they had been throwing around came rolling towards him, stopping just short of RK’s desk. 

Connor opened his eyes slowly, releasing a sigh before turning to look at the other. “For fuck sake, Lieutenant.” 

All tension was lost as Hank choked on a laugh and Connor looked away with a smirk before moving to pick up his lamp with a defeated huff. Hank didn’t offer much help, other than leaning over his desk and spouting chuckled apologies. 

Gavin snorted and turned back to his own desk before he noticed RK staring down at the floor. He followed his line of sight and realized he was looking at the stress ball that had rolled toward them. 

“Don’t get any ideas.” Gavin threw out there and RK looked up at him before giving him a small smirk. 

“I would only dream of it.” 

 

April. 3rd. 2039 

Chris was a lousy drunk. He was sleepy and wobbly and Gavin and Tina were sick of having to carry his drunk ass home after every night out. 

Gavin could hold his drink, he was very proud of that, but he was not good at holding shots. And there had been many. Oh, so many shots. 

Tina was bad with wine, she could drink a bottle of vodka straight without pause – Gavin had seen her do it once, well he’d paid her but same difference – but give her wine, and she was done. 

And so, this is where they had ended up. 

Under a streetlight, Chris slumped between the two, sat on the curb, while Tina called cab after cab trying to get them a ride home, and Gavin sat trying not to puke all over the street. 

It was a good night, first weekend off for all of them in a few months. The bars had just begun re-opening after the whole ‘evacuation’ thing and the nightlife had really picked up since a lot more people had moved back into the city. 

They’d started with a few drinks at a quiet bar, then Tina had suggested dancing and Gavin didn’t mind the idea of having a little more blackmail footage on his phone, so they had ordered shots for the road and head off. 

Three clubs, two bottles of wine, seven beers, thirteen glasses of rum and coke, and fifteen shots later; here they were. 

Gavin was up three phone numbers, Tina had kissed a random dude she was dancing with and Chris lasted almost until 3am. 

Not bad. 

“Fuck.” Tina threw her phone back into her purse and Gavin leaned forward to look at her. “It’s all autonomous from here on out.” 

“Fuck.” Gavin sighed and looked back to the pavement. Automated cars were great, if you weren’t drunk and ran the risk of puking. 

They had learnt the hard way that if you puke in an automated car, you get charged, a lot. And automated cars don’t listen when you ask them to pull over because you’re about to ruin the upholstery. Learnt that the hard way too. 

So, no go on the auto-cabs. Like ever. 

“What about Jessie? Would she come pick us up?” Gavin asked to the ground. Jessie was Chris’s fiancé but she was also a nurse and was probably working. It was a long shot. 

“Wouldn’t risk it, think he said she was on the early shift. We could call, but if we wake her up and she’s working, I’m not dying for that.” 

Gavin sighed and attempted to pull his phone from his pocket, the corner got stuck and he had to argue with it, all as Tina laughed at him, before it came loose. 

“I believed in you.” She cackled at his struggle and Gavin couldn’t help but laugh back. 

“Shut the fuck up.” He began looking through his contacts. 

Anderson. Nope. 

Connor. Double nope. 

Tina. Was just as fucked as he was. Nope. 

Chris. Same again. Nope. 

Fowler. Dear God no. 

RK900... huh? 

“Hey, what about Robocop?” Gavin waved his phone at her and she had to reach forward to grab his wrist to read the screen before bursting out laughing. 

“Yeah, coz he won’t put a bullet in our heads for the cheek of it.” 

Gavin scoffed at her and pulled his phone back, hitting dial and holding it to his ear. “Might shoot me, he likes you.” 

Tina gasped and lurched forward, coming to sit between Gavin’s legs. Chris toppled over at the move and Gavin snorted as he curled up against the curb. Tina wrapped her arm around his thigh and looked up at him with a beaming smile. 

“He likes me?” she laughed and Gavin stuck his tongue out at her. 

“Only because you beat me.” 

“Good, tell him I love him too.” The line connected and just as he was about to say hi, Tina heard and reached up to grab the phone from his hands. “I love you RoboCop! I love you!” 

Tina burst into giggles and Gavin couldn’t help but fall into it with her, his hand fell from his ear as he tried to breathe through his laughter. “You’re so fuckin dumb.” he laughed as Tina made kissing sounds into his phone. He gave her a light shove before pulling his hand back up and trying to regain his composure. 

“Sorry. We’re a little drunk and I told her you said you liked her and things just kind of escalated from there-” Gavin broke into a laugh again, head ducking as Tina smacked his thigh through her own giggle fit.  

There was silence from the other end and Gavin was beginning to think RK was ignoring them for being idiots. 

“Hello? You there?” There was a pause and all Gavin could hear was Tina’s stifled giggles and Chris’s soft snores. 

“Where are you?” 

 

The patrol car rolled up and Gavin groaned. 

“Fucking seriously?” he huffed as RK walked towards them, the glowing blue band on his jacket standing out against the dark sky behind him. 

“Your car is at your home, and I don’t have the keys. This was the only option.” RK explained as he lifted Chris easily and Tina looked up at him with wide eyes. 

“You ever fuck a guy against a wall?” 

“Tina!” Gavin barked out a laugh as he swiped at her and she jumped a little. RK seemed unimpressed but ignored the comment, simply carrying Chris to the car and placing him in the back.  

Gavin swiped at her but missed by a long shot, she flinched away anyway. “The fuck is wrong with you?” 

“I’m just saying. He could probably do it.” She snickered, wildly pointing at him. “Like you’ve never fucked my partner before, be a nice change to fuck your own.” 

“That is so wrong.” Gavin hissed at her through a giggle and she smiled, shrugging almost comically back up at him. 

“I know. And you know it too don’t you.” Tina laughed as Gavin’s face dropped. 

Oh fuck no. He was too drunk and too close to the android to be discussing this kind of shit. 

“No, I don’t.” he snapped back childishly and Tina pulled herself up, kneeling in front of him. 

“You do. You so do, but it’s okay. We can all have our little fantasies. Like for me, it’s-” Gavin slapped his hand over her mouth and Tina laughed into it. Gavin couldn’t help the borderline hysterical giggle that burst out as he shushed her. 

“We do not need to be doing this now, let's go home and then talk dirty, okay?” 

“Detective?” Gavin looked up to see RK standing over them, looking down on them with an amused smirk playing at his lips. “Do you need a hand?” 

Tina barked out a laugh into his hand and Gavin shot her a glare. 

“Yeah, please help Tina to the car with as much force as possible.”  

Tina pulled away from his hand and looked up at RK expectantly, putting on her best ‘fight me’ face as she could manage. “Do your worst, android.” 

RK looked at Gavin, as if for permission, and Gavin gave him an amused wave.  

“You better do what she says, she’s fight-y this one.” 

RK looked down at Tina once more before bending down and swooping her up and over his shoulder, in one smooth notion. Tina let out a shriek as she was hoisted into the air, purse swinging wildly, and Gavin howled with laughter, doubling over on the curb. 

He managed to grab his phone and begin recording just as Tina looked back at him as she was carried towards the car and pointed at him with a laugh. “You did this to me!” She howled and Gavin threw out his free arm in a show of pride. 

“You’re damn right I’m taking credit for this.” he cackled back as she was walked around the car.  

He watched RK put her gently back on her feet as she laughed and had to cover his mouth to stop a bark of laughter, as Tina threw her arms around RK’s neck and pulled him down into a hug. RK ushered her out from the hug and into the car.  

Gavin realized that he’d left the passenger seat free, assumingly for him. RK walked back over and stopped in front of him, holding out his hand without a word. 

“You not gunna throw me over your shoulder?” Gavin challenged putting his phone back in his pocket and RK smirked down at him. 

“No. I’d never do the same trick twice, but I can offer you a bridal carry?” 

“Fuck no.” Gavin laughed, taking his hand and was hauled to his feet. “I’ll walk thank you.” 

“As you wish.” RK replied simply and walked with him towards the car. 

“So, I get to ride in front, huh?” Gavin smiled at him and RK nodded back. 

“You are my partner after all.” 

RK gave him a soft smile before walking around the car, Gavin let out a small sound that was what was left of the laugh that died on his tongue. 

Huh. 

“Are you mad at me?” Gavin pretty much shouted across the car, reminding himself that he was still very much drunk.  

RK stopped, door half open before looking over the car at him and shaking his head. “No. Why would I be?” 

“A human would.” Gavin fired back, because he was drunk and fuck it. 

“Not necessarily,” RK quipped back. “After all, this has been rather amusing. Plus, it’s nice to see you happy and not threatening anyone for once.” 

Okay. So, so very not sober enough for this. Far too much drunk. Get in the car, Gavin. 

“Yeah, well I can change that, fuckface.” Gavin scoffed and moved to slip into the car. “Challenge accepted.” 

 

“Will you be alright Detective, Reed?” 

Gavin glanced up at RK as he stood by his side, watching him struggle with his keys. 

“Yeah, I’ll be fine.” The keys hit the floor with a thud. “Fuck.” 

He moved to grab them, swaying on his feet before RK held his hand out to his chest and stopped Gavin in his tracks. 

“Let me.” RK bent down and picked them up easily, before leaning over Gavin and slipping the keys into the lock. 

Gavin did his best to back away but there wasn’t much space as RK pressed against him to open his door. It finally swung open and Gavin practically bolted inside to get out of RK’s reach. 

“Thanks. Goodnight.” It was lame, and Gavin felt his stomach drop a little as RK’s brows raised before his usual blank stare returned and he nodded, turning and walking away. Gavin kicked himself as he watched the other walk down the hallway. “Wait.” 

What the fuck are you doing? Gavin, what is your drunk ass doing? Shut the door and go to bed, right now. 

RK stopped and turned back to face him, halfway down the hall. 

“You sleep?” Gavin! Damnit. “Coz my couch folds out and you seemed worried about me?” 

Gavin Reed! You close this door right now! You close your mouth and close the door! 

“I don’t, no.” RK took a step closer. “But I can stay, if you want me to?” 

“Well if you want to, then yeah.” Gavin sputtered out and he could already feel the hangover he was going to have tomorrow filling his head.  

“I can stay.” RK gave him a smirk and Gavin huffed at him. 

“Don’t look so smug about it. I’m drunk and you’re probably the only one who can stop me from choking on my own vomit.” 

Nice save, Gavin. 

RK followed him in anyway and shut the door behind them. Gavin threw his jacket off and made a b-line for his bed room. 

“Don’t clean anything while I’m sleeping.” 

Gavin might have been drunk, like very, very drunk, but he was almost 100% certain he heard RK laugh quietly behind him. 

 

 _“It doesn’t hurt that bad.”_  

 _Gavin was pretty sure safety pins weren’t_ _m_ _eant_ _to glow red_ _like that_ _._  

 _“I’m not scared.”_  

 _He wasn’t._  

 _Maybe._  

 _“Come on!” Elijah was such a brat sometimes. “Look, I did it.”_  

 _The middle of his ear. It looked angry and red. Crusty with blood. Painful._  

 _Okay, maybe a little scared._  

 _Elijah. Eli. Always so aware._  

 _“I’ll hold your hand?”_  

 _Gavin was thinking. The pin still glowing red under the flame from the lighter in his brother hands._  

 _His parents would go mad. The school would probably be_ _concerned_ _._  

 _But, Kevin James would probably think it was cool._  

 _He was beautiful. Gavin was not._  

 _His heart was beating a little faster in his chest._  

 _“Hold my hand, yeah?”_  

 _Eli’s smile._  

 _He missed it.... sometimes._  

 _“Okay, I’ll count to three and then do it okay?”_  

 _“Okay.”_  

 _“One.... two....”_  

 _Pain._  

 _Pain._  

 _Liar._  

 _“Told you it would look cool.”_  

 _Yeah. It did._  

 _Red._ _Swollen_ _. Crusty with blood._  

 _Kevin James said it was ugly. Made fun of him._  

 _But it made Eli smile._  

 _His heart was beating a little faster in his chest._  

 _His heart hurt._  

 _He missed him.... sometimes._  

 

April. 6th. 2039 

In just under two months, things had changed. Gavin didn’t like it. He was set in his way. He liked things. He didn’t like things. Life was simple. But no, now the RK was ruining his life. 

Anderson had changed his entire belief system in a matter of weeks and now Gavin was beginning to understand. He’d mocked the shit out of him before, calling him a hypocrite and calling him out on his bullshit around Connor. 

But now, here he was doing the same damn thing. Fucking androids. It had long since passed a time when the thought of RK as an ‘it’ and more of a ’he’ and it pissed him off. He didn’t know when the change had happened, but one day he caught himself thinking about it and fuck, here he was. 

RK wasn’t just a machine to him now and he fucking hated it, every time he looked at him he thought about how much of a sucker he was and it pissed him off. Androids ruined his life, ruined his family, ruined his fucking brother for fucks sake. And here he was, making friends with one. 

He hated it. He’d even playfully used the phrase ‘I’ve got your back’ the other day. Damnit. Fuck. 

So, Gavin was sat here, on the floor, in the old evidence locker. One full of files and paper and boxes and not a scrap on technology in sight. The only thing that ran on electricity in here was the light, and even that was buzzing away like it didn’t want to be working. Most likely because no one ever came in here anymore.  

He wasn’t hiding. No. Gavin Reed didn’t hide. Nor did he sulk. And no, he wasn’t doing that either. 

All the files in here had been logged years ago, every one of them was on the system but since the new laws had passed making it illegal to destroy someone's case file without them knowing, the room had remained full. Most of the cases were long since solved, the victim having been dead for years but the family being out of contact meant their file would just sit and rot away. 

It made for a good way to pass time though. It was usually an android that did this job, used to be a human but he wasn’t about to go into that. It was easier for a walking computer to read a name and cross reference it to the recently deceased, quicker way of getting rid of a few files every couple of months. 

Gavin was going through old red ice cases, looking up names and relatives, knowing full well that RK could probably do this in seconds all while holding a full conversation with him. But he needed some peace. 

RK was getting to him. Even Tina said he was going soft. Fucking Tina. Chris had also made a comment but he hadn’t gotten away with it as easy. Don’t piss off the guy who sits back to back with you, word of warning. 

After renaming half of Chris’s files to every dirty word and phrase he could think of, he’d retreated to the locker. 

No. Not retreated.  

Well, maybe a little retreated. 

He just didn’t want to say something he’d regret, that was the basis of it. He knew he’d get in his own head, make some dumb choice and end up being a real dick to RK. Who, when he admitted it, was a fucking good cop, and a pretty good partner. 

And he hated it. He didn’t like biting his tongue. Didn’t like having to hold back and think before he spoke. It was effort he didn’t have the fucks to give. So, he did the most logical thing he could think off and hid in the locker. 

Damnit. Not hiding. 

Okay. A lot of hiding. 

 

Chris grumbled something under his breath for the fifth time in the past ten minutes and RK decided that he should check what was wrong. Walking over he noticed that a lot of his file names were not DPD appropriate.  

“I’m going to kill Reed.” 

“What has the detective done now?” RK questioned and Chris threw himself back in his chair, pointing to the screen. “Ah.” 

“Yeah, I’d get my revenge but that asshole keeps his terminal locked at all times.” 

“It does seem like a smart move on his part.” 

“When I see him, I’m going to kill him.”  

RK shook his head lightly and gave Chris a sympathetic smile. “Maybe I can help?” 

RK connected to the terminal, and after running a short program he managed to rename the files what they had been before the change in a matter of seconds. Chris sighed and thanked him as he moved back. 

“Hey, if you see Reed, tell him this isn’t over.” 

RK frowned. “You haven’t seen him?” 

The officer shrugged lightly. “I know he clocked in, I know he got coffee coz some asshole took the whole pot, only one dickhead does that and it’s Reed.” 

RK looked towards the breakroom and his scan revealed that the whole coffee pot had indeed been taken. “But I haven’t seen him all day, if he’s anywhere; it’s on the roof or in the evidence locker, and he knows I’m not about to go down into that creepy basement for him.” 

“Thank you.” RK excused himself before heading towards the roof. 

 

Gavin was midway through writing when the door sung open and hit him in the back. 

“Ow, for fucks sake.” he snapped turning to look up at who had hit him and... oh no. 

“Why are you sat in front of the door?” 

“So that assholes like you can hit me with it because they never learnt how to knock.” Gavin sighed and turned back to his work, RK poked his head around and peered down at him as he pointed to the ceiling with his pen. “The only light that works.” 

“What are you doing?” 

Gavin huffed and turned back to look at him, pausing a moment to take in how stupid the RK looked with his head sticking around the door. “You look fucking ridiculous by the way, and I’m going through names of old red ice dealers.” 

“If you let me in I’d look a lot less so, and why? You know I can do that almost instantly.” 

Gavin sighed heavily, but scooted forward a little so RK could slip in anyway. 

“That’s the point,” he stated quietly, shifting back and looking back to his files. “It’s not about doing it quickly, it’s about getting some peace. I come down here; I think, I work. It’s nice.” 

RK hummed before stepping over him – ignoring Gavin’s huffed complaints – and sat opposite him, mirroring his position crossed legged on the floor. Gavin gave him a pointed look. 

“What are you doing?” 

RK shrugged. “I’m trying it out.” 

“You know the whole idea behind this is I get some peace, right?” 

“I’ll be quiet.” 

“Your mental light show is telling me otherwise.” Gavin pointed up to his LED with his pen and RK frowned, turning his head away from him. Gavin felt like a dick, just like he’d been trying to avoid. “Never mind, it’s fine, just... stay still and be quiet.” 

“Can I ask something first?” Gavin shot him a glare and RK looked down at his feet. There was a moment of quiet, the only sound the faint buzzing of the light and the scratch of Gavin’s pen to paper.  

“Alright, what?” 

RK looked up at him and Gavin waved him on. “Why do you need this?” 

Gavin looked him over for a moment before shaking his head and continuing with his work. “I don’t know, sometimes I get in my head too much. Some people eat, some drink, I work down here.” 

“What’s in your head?” 

Gavin sighed and rubbed at his temples. “Are you going to keep doing this because I mean it when I say I want quiet.” 

“... Sorry.” 

“Just stuff. Work stuff. Me stuff. Shit I’ve known for a long time is different now and it’s...” Gavin paused and looked at the other sat in front of him. RK looked very uncomfortable where he sat awkwardly and very much so seemed like he’d rather be anywhere else.  “I’m trying to stop myself from saying something I’ll regret.” 

Surprisingly after that RK managed to sit quietly for a whole hour, Gavin didn’t completely love the idea of being watched as he worked but at least RK wasn’t trying to talk to him, so he took his graces. After an hour RK shifted in front of him and Gavin watched as he stood, RK then held his arms out to him and gave a small flick of his hand. 

“What?” Gavin stared blankly at him. 

“You should stand.” 

“Erm, what?” 

RK sighed and bent down, he grabbed Gavin’s wrists, much to his protest and hauled him up. 

“Your posture is terrible and you’ll end up with a stiff neck if you carry on.” Gavin snorted but shook the tension from his body anyway. “You should also have something to eat, seen as you have been down here for over four hours.” 

“If I say yes, you’ll let me come back down here, alone, for the rest of the day?” 

RK seemed to think it over before nodding. “Deal.” 

 

Tina caught them before they managed to reach the bullpen. 

“Okay, don’t freak out.” That was never a good start to a conversation. “Elijah is here.” 

Gavin paled and RK watched as his eyes widened. He noted that his heart rate had elevated and he had become considerably more tense at the mention of the name. 

“Do you know why?” Gavin asked, trying to keep his voice steady. Tina shook her head. 

“I tried but Fowler was having none of it, they’re up in his office talking, even Connor isn’t allowed to talk to him.” 

“The fuck is he here, I don’t need this shit today.” Gavin ran a hand through his hair and Tina gave him a sympathetic smile. 

“I know, I thought you’d be down there all day, you usually are.” Gavin turned to look at RK slowly, giving him a heated glare before letting out a heavy breath through his nose. “Oh, I see. Well I could pull distraction, see what I can get and keep him away from the breakroom for an hour?” 

Gavin nodded and Tina gave him a quick pat on the arm before walking towards the bullpen. RK turned to stand in front of him and Gavin looked away. 

“Don’t lecture me, alright.” Was all he said and RK shook his head lightly. 

“I wasn’t going to.” 

“Yes you were, and I know you know. Every time I mention my family you have this stupid look on your face like you want to tell me a secret but can't." Gavin sighed and shook his head. “He’s not my brother anymore so you can let it go, alright?” 

“... You miss him.” 

Gavin shot him a dangerous look. “Don’t even fucking go there.” 

RK nodded in apology and Gavin took a breath before walking quickly to his desk and crouching to grab his wallet from the draw, he looked up to see Fowler’s office empty and hoped Tina’s plan had worked. He stood and turned to tell RK to cover him as he ran to the vending machine but turned to find Elijah stood by his desk instead. RK moved beside Gavin as the two locked eyes, Gavin’s face was slack as he stared back at the other. 

“You know you’d think after three years you’d think of something else to keep me out of the way.” Elijah offered quietly and Gavin clicked his mouth shut. “...How are you?” 

Gavin simply chose to ignore him, brushing past RK and moving towards the breakroom. 

“Oh, come on Gavin, it’s been twenty years.” Gavin stopped suddenly, his entire body tense as he stared down at the floor. RK noticed his hands clenching up into fists as he seemed to take a moment to control himself. “Can't you just get over it, and talk to me?” 

It was as if someone had shocked him, RK watched as a shudder ran through Gavin and he turned to face the other. There was fury in his eyes as he stared him down, taking slow and calculated steps back towards him. RK suddenly had the feeling he didn’t want to be in the middle of this and took a step towards Gavin, standing just off to his side. 

“The fuck did you just say to me?” Gavin hissed and Elijah seemed to lose some of his composure. 

“I just... I want you to let it go, Gavin.” 

 The bullpen became a hush of people speaking in low tones, RK looked around him and noticed that people were staring, even the androids had paused in their duties. This was beginning to look like the start of a throwdown and he didn’t like it. 

RK watched as Gavin’s eye actually began to twitch under the strain of him trying to control himself.  

He should have let him stay downstairs. He shouldn’t have gone down at all. Maybe he should have just stayed at his desk, done nothing all day and avoided all of this. 

“Let it go?” Gavin gave a short maniacal laugh and RK watched Elijah flinch back a little. 

RK spotted Tina from the other side of the bullpen and he gave her a desperate look, she gave him a helpless shake of her head just as RK before turned back to watch Gavin advancing on his brother slowly. 

“Let it go? Let go of what, exactly?” Gavin snarled taking another step towards him.  

“Of how they treated me? Of how they let me down? Of how  _you_ _,”_ Another flinch as Gavin pointed an accusatory finger at him. “let me down?” 

“I didn’t care, I didn’t care I was never going to amount to what you were. I’m not as smart as you and I never will be. I’ll never be able to understand the things you can, or create the programs and make machines like you. And I’ll never be able to understand them like you.”  

Gavin pointed a finger at himself. “I know that. I’ve always known that. And I accepted it!”  

Gavin shook his head desperately and his hand moved wildly as he spoke. 

“I took every sly comment, every comparison to you, every disappointed look at my report card. Because I understood! It hurt, but I didn’t bother trying to best you because I knew it wasn’t worth it! I was happy with who I was!”  

Gavin’s sharp and defensive demeanour began to crack. “I’m happy with what I’ve done with myself. I’m a good cop and I’m a fucking great detective. And one day I’ll be a great lieutenant, and maybe, just maybe, one day I’ll be a great captain.” 

RK’s heart felt heavy in his chest as Gavin’s anger began to melt away into something else, something he’d never seen in him before. Something broken. 

“I save lives and I help people, just as much as your fucking machines. But do they care? No! I knew they would never be proud of me, I knew they wouldn’t look at me the way they look at you. And I accepted that!”  

Gavin’s hands began to shake. “But you, you were supposed to be on my side! You were supposed to stick up for me, hell even protect me! Because you’re my big brother! No matter what they said, you were supposed to be on my team!” 

Elijah stood staring at him as Gavin’s voice began to crack. There was a flicker in his eyes and RK watched as a new anger fuelled fire started somewhere deep inside him. 

“But what did you do? You encouraged them! You helped them hate me. You took my face and you stuck it on one of your precious machines, and you destroyed me!”  

The betrayal in Gavin’s voice made something twist painfully in RK’s chest. “You took me apart like a project, made me hollow. You broke me down, stripped me bare and you put the only good things about me into that thing!” 

Gavin took another step forward, pointing at his brother sharply. 

“You left me with nothing! You made me nothing!” His voice cracked against his will and Gavin hated how small he felt.  

“That version of me that’s perfect. Smarter. Faster, more acceptable, better manners. Easier to love.” Gavin took a shuddering breath and RK’s fingers twitched by his sides. 

“You were the last person I trusted. You betrayed me. You chose your stupid fucking robots and their approval over me! You and your fucking God complex, it never ends. You’d rather destroy your little brother than let someone believe you could fail!” 

“Gavin, I’m s-” Elijah tried quietly but Gavin cut him off with a sharp intake of breath. 

“Don’t. Don’t say sorry. I don’t want your piss poor attempt at sorry, because if you were, you’d go back there and you’d fix it. You would have ended this a long time ago if you gave a shit about me.”  

Gavin shook his head. “Don’t tell me to let it go. Let go of what you did to me. The fact our parents never loved me an inch of what they loved you? Or you abandoning me for them? Or you replacing me with your perfect creation?” 

Elijah looked to the ground and Gavin swallowed the lump forming in his throat, he lowered his shaking hand and took a breath.  

“Just go. Leave me alone before you make me feel any worse.”  

RK thought for a moment Elijah would fight, try and make some peace as he remained still. But then he nodded lightly, keeping his eyes to the ground as Gavin looked away from him to steady himself. Elijah brushed past him and made way to the exit, RK watched Gavin as he tried to hide the fact he was watching him go from the corner of his sight. 

The bullpen sat in silence as Gavin caught his breath in hitching little gasps, RK stood watching him as he tried to keep his composure as everyone turned to stare at him. Small murmurs began and Gavin began to tense as he became painfully aware he’d just let out everything to the entire office. 

RK had the sudden urge to storm over and hug him, shield him from judging eyes. He was about to, almost put one foot in front of the other but before he could a low voice from the desk over shattered the moment. 

“Holy shit.” Anderson whispered, a little too loudly and RK whipped around to shoot him a glare. The notion was beaten by Connor who was sitting on the edge of his desk, he promptly swiped at his arm and gave him a stern look. The lieutenant hissed and moved to rub at where he’d hit. “Sorry.” 

It was too late, RK looked back to Gavin, standing by his desk looking completely shattered. RK saw the mask crumble, the crinkle at the corner of his eyes as his armour broke and his face screwed up as he tried to fight back tears. 

RK took a step forward, reaching out for him but Gavin had already began moving, retreating away towards the bathrooms as he tried to hide his face.  

The whispers began again as the bathroom door swung closed behind him. RK shut his eyes and grit his teeth. This wasn’t right. People shouldn’t be gossiping about this. 

He turned to face the bullpen. “If I hear anyone speak a word of this in the next twenty-four hours, I will remove their head.” He snapped to the crowd, everyone seemed startled before quickly moving to make themselves useful. Connor gave him an amused glance before turning back to Hank, who had made a point of turning back to face his terminal. 

 

Gavin threw himself into a stall, locking it quickly behind him even though he knew no one would have the fucking nerve to come anywhere near here until he was gone.  

He threw his back against the door, trying to pull himself together as he felt the tears burning at the back of his eyes. He hated this feeling. It was as if his nerves were exposed, he felt weak and pitiful. He turned and threw a fist at the door, the stall rattling loudly as he hit it with as much force as he could muster. 

He fucking hated Elijah for what he’d done, for coming to his work. The one thing he had left and he’d ruined it, again. 

Another hit to the door, and he felt the already tender skin on his knuckled begin to split, the skin still red where it was still healing from before. He threw back another hit, there was less heat to it this time and he realised he wasn’t even angry anymore.  

He just felt broken. 

He tried catching his breath but the more he tried the harder it became and it only made the crushing feeling in his stomach worse. He hit his head against the door, as if it would help knock the crushing self-hatred out of his head, fists coming up to rest either side of his head as he stood forehead pressed against the door. 

The weight of everything started dragging him down, he twisted as he sank to the floor and fell back against the door, feet kicking into the toilet as he wrapped his arms around himself. 

He wanted nothing more than to disappear. It would be better for everyone. He was such a fuck up, why did anyone want him around. 

Gavin squeezed his eyes shut as the tears began coming hard, there was nothing he could do to stop it, it was a long time coming. He pressed the heels of his palms to his eyes as he choked back sobs, the sound echoing around the room, mocking him as he sat crying on the bathroom floor. 

He threw his hands down into his lap, fingers curling into his shirt and he curled into himself, bringing his knees up a little closer to his chest. He leant over, head resting against the door and the stall wall as he sat, eyes closed, listening to his own hitching breaths sound out into the room. 

The sound of the door opening broke his trance, and his head jolted back from where it rested, turning slightly so he could hear. The sound of dress shoes he knew a little too well filled the room and Gavin let out a small sigh, the footsteps came to a stop outside the stall where he sat. 

“Detective?” RK’s voice was soft as he called out to him, knowing full well where he was. Gavin didn’t respond and he heard the other shifting behind the door. “Are you alright?” 

Was he alright? What kind of fucking stupid question was that? Only an android could be so fucking dumb. 

“What do you think, tin man?” Gavin grumbled weakly, fingers picking at a thread at the bottom of his shirt absently. “Just leave me alone, okay? You can’t help.” RK looked down to the floor where he could see the edge of Gavin’s jacket peeking out.  

“ _Please_.” Gavin hated the way his voice shook. 

RK’s head snapped up and he stared at the door for a long moment, he contemplated his options. He should leave Gavin alone, he’d asked him too, he wanted to be alone. But he just... couldn’t. 

Gavin heard him move and let out a breath as the other began to walk away from him. Then he heard the sound of the door being locked and RK walked back to where he was and sat himself down, back to back with him against the door. 

“The fuck are you doing?” he huffed quietly and he felt the door shake a little as RK got comfortable on the other side.  

“I’m not leaving you.” Gavin’s stomach twisted at the admission, RK’s voice holding a strange peace to it, more than he’d ever heard it do before. “I’ll wait.” 

Gavin swallowed down the harsh comment threatening to burst out on instinct, settling for a small head shake even though he knew RK couldn’t see it. 

“You’ll be waiting a long time.” 

“That’s okay. I want to stay.” 

Gavin huffed out a laugh, head resting back against the door.  

“No, you don’t. You only want to stay because you’re programmed to.” Gavin paused and looked down at his hands, rubbing at the battered skin on his knuckles. “You... You should go talk to Connor.” 

RK frowned and looked over his shoulder at the door. “Why?” 

Gavin sighed and set his head back against the door again, eyes slipping closed as he thought about how he could tell RK. 

“Because he can help you break it. Your programming or whatever. I... I don’t know how it works or what happens but, he can help you be free.” Gavin felt more tears building up and he bit them down. “You shouldn’t have to be someone's bitch. No one can tell you who you should be or what you should do. You should be your own person.” 

There was a pause and Gavin moved to wipe away the tears falling down his face, sniffing harshly as he tried to regain some composure. RK seemed to shift behind him. 

“Gavin, do you know who sent me here?” His voice was soft and quiet, a kind and gentle tone Gavin had never heard before. When he didn’t respond, RK took it as a sign to continue. “Your brother has taken back over Cyberlife. Since the revolution, he’s been asked to help with the negotiations. He was the one who found me, he brought me out of stasis.” 

Gavin frowned down at his hands. “Elijah sent you?” 

“Yes. He woke me up, told me that I wasn’t a part of Cyberlife's master plan anymore. It wasn’t until I read through my programming that I understood what that meant.” RK chuckled softly and Gavin found himself leaning into the sound. “Did you know I was made to replace Connor? Or that my sole purpose was to destroy him, had he become deviant and uncontrollable?” 

Gavin turned a little and RK felt the door move as he shifted, taking it as a good sign. “You were made to hunt Connor?” 

“Yes. When Elijah woke me up, he broke that programming. He told me that he had a new purpose for me, if I wanted it.” RK looked back at the door again. “He told me to come here, to find you and that I was to be your partner.” 

RK let out a small laugh and Gavin looked back at the door.  

“He warned me about you. Said you would hate me, could even damage me. But he told me you weren’t a bad person, just angry. I didn’t understand what he meant but I took his words to mind.” RK shook his head. “And then I met you. And you were this impossible... thing!” 

Gavin snorted and RK smiled down at his hands.  

“You didn’t even fight me, that first day. You just gave up your badge and left. I didn’t know what to do. I hadn’t even had chance to start my mission and you’d failed it for me before you even saw my face.” RK sounded flustered and Gavin smiled back at the door. “And then you were brash and rude and a nightmare. I tried to work to down to your level but then you... weren’t.” 

RK sighed. “You were kind and playful and foolish. You were a good detective and a good friend. I didn’t understand, I couldn't work out how one person could be so many contradicting things!” 

Gavin made a small amused sound. 

“You hated me. But when I was shot, you took care of me, at the sake of yourself and when I tried to return the favour, you were mad at me. I couldn’t understand why. Every time I thought I had you figured out, you proved me wrong.” 

“So, what’s your point?” It would have sounded defensive, if RK didn’t know him any better. RK paused before resting his head back against the door. 

“I never understood true deviancy, until I met you.” 

Wait. “What?” 

“You are everything a Deviant should be! Lost. Angry. Passionate. Loyal. Determined.” 

Gavin huffed. “If you’re going for a compliment, you’re missing the mark.” 

RK laughed and shook his head, rolling it against the door. 

“I was always free, Gavin. I was never held here by any program.” 

Gavin moved against the door, so much so RK had to pull away as it rattled. 

“Wait, so you could have just left? At any time? When I threatened you, made fun of you?” 

“Yes.” 

Gavin paused for a moment. “So why didn’t you?” 

“Because I wanted to help you. Not because someone told me to or because of any kind of program, but because I wanted to. I wanted to understand you, and in turn, help you. To be who you wanted to be, who you could be.” 

“Are you seriously telling me you stuck around with me, because I made a good deviant?” It sounded like a joke and RK smiled to himself. 

“In a way, yes.” 

RK felt the door move again and heard Gavin getting to his feet, he pulled forward just as the door opened and Gavin looked down at him. RK had to bend a little awkwardly to look back up at him but he didn’t mind. 

“You seriously stuck with me,  _me_ , because I made a good deviant?” 

“Yes.” 

RK smiled at him, that stupid smile that was all cheekbones and eyes, before getting to his feet and facing him. Gavin held onto the door as he looked him over. 

“The same way humans see a stray and think ‘I can make this thing happy’?” 

“If you like.” Gavin narrowed his eyes at the other and RK tried not to notice how bloodshot they were after his crying. 

“I’m not a stray.” 

“I’m well aware.” 

“I’m not a charity case.” 

“I know.” 

“And I am _not_  a good deviant.” 

“That’s debatable.” 

There was a pause before Gavin smiled and let out a small laugh ducking his head. RK smiled back and Gavin nodded once at him. 

“So, you wanna go solve a case or what?” he asked and RK replied with a shrug. 

“I don’t know. Do you want to keep discussing our feelings in the restroom?” 

“Fuck no!” Gavin pushed past him and made a b-line for the mirrors, he gave himself a quick look over before turning towards the other. “I’ll interrogate, you watch. Grab Anderson and Connor, and meet me in the room in ten.” 

RK nodded, moving to unlock the door and opening it for him as he walked over. “Of course.” 

 

Gavin walked out and into the bullpen to grab his key to the cells, he felt eyes on him as he moved.  

“Stop staring at me. You all knew I had a tragic backstory, so don’t pretend you’re all surprised.” 

He turned back, shaking his keys obnoxiously to the room before walking towards the cells. He passed RK, who was making his way over to Hank’s desk, with a small smile. 

“And stop gossiping about me and do some work, if you assholes can manage that.” Gavin shouted back as he rounder the corner and the room gave RK a blank stare.  

RK simply shrugged lightly and made his way over to Hank and Connor. Hank was seemingly staring at him like he’d just solved world peace and Connor gave him an unbelieving shake of his head as he moved from his own to perch on the end of Hanks desk. 

“How?... How did... How?” Connor asked as he settled, brows furrowed pointing the coin between his fingers in Gavin’s direction and RK gave him a blank look. 

“What?” 

Hanks eyes were wide, brows raised as he looked up at him impressed. “You... tamed Gavin.” 

“He’s not an animal, Lieutenant.” RK stated blankly and Connor tilted his head at him. 

“Could have fooled me.” Connor mumbled to himself and RK fought the sudden urge to kick his shin. 

“Detective Reed and I would like your assistance, we’ll be interrogating a suspect in room two in ten minutes and we would appreciate the extra set of eyes, seen as this is a red ice case, Lieutenant. Your knowledge may come in handy.” 

Connor looked down at the other and Hank shrugged, rocking back in his chair a little. “Sure, why not.” 

RK nodded in thanks before turning and walking away toward Gavin’s desk. A hand on his arm stopped him and he turned to face Connor. 

“Are you alright?” he asked and RK gave him a confused look. “I mean, he didn’t hit you or anything, did he?” 

RK smiled and shook his head. “Despite his past actions with you, Detective Reed has never hit me.” 

“Oh.” Connor seemed shocked. “That’s impressive, I guess.” 

“He’s not as bad as you think, Connor. He’s... complicated.” 

Connor opened his mouth to respond, maybe to ask him to elaborate, when Gavin came around the corner and threw his arms out. 

“Alright, which one of you stupid fucks has taken the I.T.G room keys without signing for it? I will fuck you up.” 

Connor raised a brow at RK. “If you say so.” 


	3. The Middle.

April. 12th. 2039 

Gavin didn’t know what to do with himself. 

RK had asked him to help him with something - well he’d come up to him, coffee in hand and stood by his shoulder awkwardly until Gavin had snapped, then he’d asked him - and, thinking nothing out of the ordinary, Gavin had followed him. The problem didn’t arise until RK took him to the changing rooms and began stripping off. 

And by stripping off, he meant getting practically naked, in what he would at least consider a semi-public place. Did you know RK wore boxer briefs? Little black ones with the fucking cyberlife logo on the left ass cheek? Because Gavin did now, for fucks sake. 

“What the hell are you doing?!” Gavin practically shrieked, gracefully spitting coffee everywhere as RK threw his clothes into a pile on the bench by his shins. RK didn’t seem phased by the question, or the fact he was pretty much naked, and simply looked over his shoulder – his very bare shoulder – and shook his head. 

“I asked you for your help.” he replied as if it were obvious that this is what he intended Gavin on wasting his time doing, instead of, you know, his job. 

“You can’t invite a guy to the locker room and strip off without warning, haven’t I taught you anything!?” 

“Other than a new colourful array of curse words, no detective. You have not.” RK was rolling his eyes at him as he moved to open a locker and pull out a canvas bag. “And if that is the case, I will warn you next time.” 

Gavin scoffed. If that’s the case? Fucking androids. 

Wait a minute. 

“What do you mean ‘next time’?” Gavin stared as RK began pulling what seemed to be clothes from the bag and laying them out in front of him. “And why have you invited me down here for a fashion show, I’m not that kind of gay you know.” 

RK sighed and shot him a frustrated look. “They don’t call you detective for nothing.” 

“Stop being a smartass and tell me what the hell is going on.” Gavin crossed his arms over his chest, watching his coffee carefully, and raised a brow at the other. 

RK paused for a moment before holding up a pair of dark blue jeans and a grey shirt. 

“I need your help.” he stated again, gesturing at him with the clothes in his hands. 

“Thought my sense of style wasn’t to your taste.” Gavin quipped and RK’s eyes narrowed at him. “Why didn’t you ask someone else, like Connor?” 

RK snorted, lowering his hands. “Have you seen the way he dresses.” 

Gavin, despite himself, let out a chuckle and nodded at him. “Okay point taken, but what do you really expect? I mean Hank Anderson isn’t exactly a style icon.” 

“Only to the blind and stupid.” RK mumbled to himself, looking back down at the pile of new clothes.  

Gavin watched him before sighing and uncrossing his arms. He gave him a little wave with his coffee cup and RK’s eyes seemed to light up. 

“Okay, fine. But if anyone walks in on this, I’m telling them you threatened me at gunpoint.” 

And so here they were, RK stripping and changing as Gavin watched. It was... weird? But also, not? He’d had many a conversation with Tina in here back in the day; going from uniform to his casual clothes had been a few years in the making. But it was always the two of them, he didn’t stand and watch while Tina changed, and it wasn’t for this long either. 

All in all, Gavin didn’t know what to do with himself. 

He made comments where they were needed, RK’s style hadn’t really changed all that much. It was all fitted jeans and shirts, the occasional waist coat showed up but there was really no change. The biggest effort was looking away when RK was tugging up the different pairs of jeans.  

They’d given him a dick. Gavin did not know this and now his mind was running all kinds of images through his head as he tried his best not to stare at his partners crotch. 

He was only human after all. Give him some credit. And despite looking an awful lot like Connor, RK was pretty attractive. His frame suited him perfectly, he was built to look strong but they hadn’t layered him with muscle. He was slim but toned, more toned than Gavin and he made a mental note to go to the gym a little more as he pried his eyes away from RK’s hipbones. 

He was just Gavin’s type. Fucking androids. 

Luckily RK didn’t seem to notice as Gavin watched as him shrugged off his shirt and reached down for another. His curiosity had peaked, and Gavin had a bad way with words when he thought about them too hard, and so he just kind of went for it before he just blurted out ‘so hey does your dick work?’. 

“So, does it work?” Good fucking job, Gavin. 

RK gave him a quizzical look, pausing in his current search for another shirt to pair with his jeans. 

“Does what work?”  

Gavin wasn’t panicking. Not at all. “You know.” he gave a vague gesture at him and RK glanced down at himself with a frown. 

“No, I don’t.” RK shook his head at him and Gavin sighed, mentally kicking himself for even opening his mouth.  

“Okay, don’t look directly at me when I ask this,” RK’s confusion turned to suspicion as he narrowed his eyes at him but did as instructed and looked down at his clothes. “Why did they give you a dick?” 

Gavin could see the tilt of RK’s head as he obviously tried not to spin round and give him the most confused stare ever. RK gave a small shake of his head before picking up his next try on. 

“I don’t know. I think it was something to do with our integration into society. Maybe making us sexually pleasing made our appeal to humans a little stronger, but I’m not entirely sure.” 

Gavin’s jaw dropped just before he took a sip of his coffee. “Wait, our? So, Connor has a dick too?” 

“Please stop saying dick.” RK sighed as he threw the shirt on and turned to Gavin as he buttoned it up. 

“Sorry, but yeah so, previous question.” Gavin cleared his throat awkwardly and took the sip of his coffee as to try and hide his sudden need to exit the room as quickly as possible.  

RK didn’t seem bothered by his lack of tact though and simply cocked his head to the side in thought as he adjusted his new ensemble in the mirror to his side. 

“I don’t know. I assume so.” he shrugged and Gavin swallowed, hard. 

“You... Don't know?” RK shrugged again and Gavin stared at him. “So, you’ve never...” 

Gavin trailed off as RK shot him an unforgiving look. “I was in storage until two months ago, and since then I’ve been here with you so, no. I haven't really had the time to experiment with all my features.” 

Would you like to? Was on the tip of his tongue but Gavin swallowed it back with another gulp of coffee. 

“Have you ever, you know, thought about it?” He wasn’t trying to be a creep, he really wasn’t. He was just curious, and he hoped RK wasn’t reading him the wrong way. And by the look RK was giving him, that wasn’t the case. Fuck. 

“How is it that I ask you to help me choose a new uniform, you tell me I’m being inappropriate. But questions about me ‘getting off’ are on the table?” 

Gavin shook his head and gave the other a wave of his free hand. “You’re right. Shit. Sorry.” 

RK shot him a smile that tugged up a little higher at one corner before smoothing out his shirt and holding his arms out to him. 

“Well, any better?” he prompted and Gavin shrugged.  

“They all look the same to me.” 

RK’s arms fell to his sides. “Why did I bother asking you for help.” 

Gavin huffed and threw his arm out at him. “Okay, fine. You look like a waiter, one that works in the kind of place that already has breadsticks on the table when you walk in.” 

RK raised a brow at him. “That was... oddly specific.” 

“Yeah well, you asked. You received. You’re welcome.” Gavin finished his coffee and threw the cup towards the trash can in the corner. “Honestly, it’s a shirt and jeans, and half of them are the same colour. Just... wear what makes you happy.” 

Gavin watched as RK seemed to check himself over before picking up his Cyberlife jacket and throwing it on over the top of his new outfit. The stark white and blue suddenly standing out against him, no longer fitting with the new light grey shirt and black jeans he’d chosen. 

“You really going to keep that?” RK paused and Gavin held up his hands. “Well I mean if it makes you feel better but, you know. You don’t have to walk around like their personal advertisement.” 

RK was studying himself in the mirror, hands holding the edges of his jacket. Gavin could see his LED spinning a steady yellow as he looked himself over, he took a step forward and RK followed him in the mirror. 

“I feel like I should wear it, you have a badge that tells people who you are. I only have this.” Gavin paused over the thought and something suddenly occurred to him. 

“You don’t have a name, do you?” RK’s LED flickered red before tripping back to yellow. 

“No. I wasn’t designated one, other than my make and model.” 

“That’s fucked up.” Gavin breathed and RK shot him a surprised look in the mirror. “Well they gave you a dick, but not a name? That’s not right.” 

“I guess not.”  

RK began to fidget with the edge of his jacket, looking at the letters and numbers staring back at him as he mused over if he should keep it or not. Gavin moved next to him, arms crossing over his chest as he leaned back against the lockers. 

“You ever thought about it?” he asked quietly and RK shook his head. 

“I never needed one.”  

“Connor calls you Nines.” RK’s brows raised and Gavin shrugged. “I know things.” 

RK chuckled. “You know my nickname but not how my dick works, you are truly wise.” 

Gavin huffed out a small laugh before giving him a thoughtful look. Now there was an idea. RK shook his head at him as he let out a small hum of thought. 

“What?” 

“Dick.” Gavin stated simply and RK rolled his eyes. “No, like your name. Dick.” 

“You want me to go around calling myself, Dick?” RK responded sceptically and Gavin sighed, gesturing at him vaguely.  

“No, like Richard. You know, Dick?” 

“I’m starting to think you have a problem.” RK chuckled and Gavin swatted at him weakly. 

“I’m serious. What about it? Richard.” RK hummed a thoughtful noise before looking himself over in the mirror once more.  

Gavin took it as a personal win as RK smiled and gave a small nod. “I like it.” 

Gavin watched as Richard pulled his jacket down over his shoulders and laid it back on top of his old uniform. 

“Good. At least now I know what to shout at you from across the bullpen.” Gavin smirked and RK’s eyes widened. 

“... I’ve made a horrible mistake.” 

 

April. 14th. 2039 

Gavin’s cat was dumb. Well, it wasn’t his cat, but the point still stood. His cat was a moron. 

He’d been going through some old boxes. Stuff he hadn’t bothered to unpack and things he had no space for. It was his day off and unfortunately; Tina and Chris were working. That had left him with nothing to do, so boxes. 

Gavin had almost forgotten half of the things he’d hidden away. Old medals, certificates that once left him beaming with pride. His degree from passing the academy had almost been framed. Almost. 

After rummaging through a couple of boxes he’d found his old photo albums. Birthdays and holidays, stupid days out and even the odd field trip. He’d actually smiled looking through them. He’d actually looked through them, full stop. He’d found himself sitting cross legged in the middle of his couch, books piled up on his coffee table. Usually they were pushed aside and left to sit. 

He’d been thinking a lot about the past recently. He wasn’t 100% sure he was okay with that but he gave in to the nagging voice in the back of his head and had spent the past three hours just looking at the albums. 

Gavin had almost forgotten what it was like before Elijah had become a fucking child genius. 

And that’s when he’d become bitter. Pictures didn’t make him smile, they just filled him with cynicism. A reminder of his past wasn’t a good thing anymore.  

So, Gavin had given up, thrown them aside and carried on.  

That’s when he found the laser pointer. And that’s how he got here.  

Gavin’s cat was dumb. 

The grey ball of fur in question was currently prancing around his kitchen, skidding on the wooden floor as it jumped and flailed around, chasing the uncatchable red dot that was dancing around. He’d been doing this for ten minutes and it was still funny. Watching the cat backflip and spin and fall flat to the ground as it tried to capture the light was the best thing he’d seen all week. 

Gavin’s cat was dumb. But in the end, it was Gavin who had been sat for ten minutes, waving a laser pointer at him, so nobody really had bragging rights. 

He gave it five more minutes before he decided that, as it is funny, it’s not worth wasting his day over. Gavin set the pen down and walked over to the now very confused, if not slightly angry, cat and gave him a quick pat on the head. 

He was given a nudge and a content purr in return and followed as he made his way over to the fridge. After grabbing a beer and throwing himself onto the couch, he grabbed his phone and began looking to see if anyone had messaged him. 

Huh. Nothing. 

Well that wasn’t unexpected but still, now he’s bored and he doesn’t have anything to do. He could go out drinking, but drinking alone just seems sad and he’s pretty sure he isn’t at that point in his life yet. Yet. There’s still time. 

He could go shopping, but he isn’t exactly running low on anything and he doesn’t feel like walking around town like he’s in some kind of sad emo music video. Again, not yet. 

Gavin looked at the TV, playing aimlessly in the background, mainly to fill the silence of his apartment. He could watch something. But, what? There wasn’t anything he felt like watching and he didn’t want to start something he couldn’t finish. 

Gavin was a binge watcher. If he can’t finish a show in a day, then he won’t start it. He never understood how people could go an episode at a time, what was it, the 90s? No, just watch the whole damn show people, it’s pointless to ignore shows when they are right there in front of you. 

He was about to just go back to bed, just nap with no alarm and see what he felt like doing when he woke up, when his phone buzzed in his hand. He looked down, expecting Tina or even a spam text from his network telling him he had no friends, but no. 

‘That Plastic Prick’ 

Huh. 

Gavin raised a brow at his phone. He could see the first line, so he could tell it wasn’t anything important.  

‘Detective, I hope you are enjoying your day off. I have just...’ 

He thought about ignoring it, but there was something about the strangely friendly greeting of it that made him want to know why Richard was texting him on his day off. So he did. 

“Detective, I hope you are enjoying your day off. I have just received a message concerning a possible lead in our most recent closed case. I will be at the station for the duration of the day, if you would like, I can send you updates as and if I find them.” 

Gavin hit call before he had the time to think about it. 

Richard answered almost instantly. “Hello detective.”  

“What the hell are you doing?” Gavin sighed. “You do know it’s your day off too, right?” 

There was a pause. 

“Yes.” 

“So why are you working?” 

Gavin watched as the cat jumped up next to him and began licking himself on the cushion beside him. 

“Unlike you detective, when I’m not working, I have nothing to do.” 

“So? You think I’m over here throwing a fucking party?” Gavin waved at nothing in front of him. “And stop calling me detective, for fucks sake. I’m off the clock.” 

“You don’t know enough people to throw any kind of party.” 

Gavin huffed out a laugh. 

“Dick. And stop avoiding the question.” 

Another pause. Gavin sat back and gave the cat a quick pat as he slouched into the couch. 

“I... I have nothing to do.” 

Gavin’s brow furrowed. That’s a point. What the hell did Richard do when he wasn’t working. He’d figured he had a place uptown seen as he always made his way back there when they left work and- 

“Oh my god.” The realization hit him. “Rich, do you... do you live at Cyberlife?” 

Another pause. 

“If I say yes, are you going to yell at me?” 

Gavin looked down at where he was petting the cat. 

“So, what you just go back there and... stand around?” 

“In a way, yes.” 

That was fucked up. 

“That’s fucked up.” 

“The more you learn about me, the more you tell me that, Gavin.” 

Gavin frowned at his free hand before taking it back, ignoring the grumble of disappointment from the cat. 

“Because it is. You’re not some piece of equipment to be put in a locker when it’s done for the day.” 

Gavin reached for his beer and took a drink as Richard seemed to think about his reply. 

“Coming from you, that means a lot.” 

Gavin winced to himself. Well he wasn’t wrong. But Gavin was right, Richard wasn’t a fucking weapon, one that you signed off on and threw in holding until it was useful again. He should be treated better. He was a living thing, and a fucking impressively advanced living thing at that. 

“Come over.” 

Wait what. 

“I’m sorry?” Gavin didn’t blame him for sounding so lost, he didn’t even know entirely where that had come from. 

“Erm... Yeah. Come over, to mine.” Smooth. “Look it’s an offer alright? You shouldn’t be stood around fucking Cyberlife, waiting for cases to pop up to give you some purpose.” 

“And what purpose would you give me, Gavin?” 

“Don’t sass me asshole, I’m being nice.” He took another drink as he heard the other rush out a small laugh. 

“Yes, I appreciate that.” A pause. “I don’t mind working.” 

Gavin sat forward, setting his beer down on the table with a solid thunk. 

“Hell no, get your plastic ass over here and I’m going to show you how to take a day off.” 

 

“How exactly is this any better than me standing around at Cyberlife?” Gavin turned to look up at him from where he was sat on the floor, sorting through the stack of movies under his TV. 

Always a critic. Richard had been there ten seconds and he was already complaining.  

He’d shown up, looking awfully casual for a guy who was so fixated on working today, jeans and a dark grey shirt under a black hoodie weren’t exactly screaming ‘workaholic android’ but Gavin was glad that he hadn't shown up all suited up, seen as he had only just managed to throw on a pair of sweatpants today. 

“Just sit down, and shut up. I’m getting to it.” Gavin huffed and turned back to the cases in his hands. 

Richard listened to him, though he looked like he was going to complain again any minute now. 

“It’s not about doing anything important, alright.” Gavin continued down to his hands. “It’s about not working. You don’t think about work, you don’t do any work. In fact, the station doesn’t exist.” 

“I’m a detective android.” Richard stated plainly and Gavin turned to shoot him a dirty look. 

“And I’m a detective human, doesn’t mean I have to be a cop all the time.” Gavin stood and threw the movie choices next to him, watching as they bounced and scattered on the seat. Richard stared at them blankly. “Pick one.” 

Richard looked up at the instruction and Gavin pointed at them. “You pick the movie and we’ll watch it.” 

Richard gave him a confused glance before leaning over and collecting together the cases, brow furrowing ever so slightly as he slowly looked them over, Gavin watched as his LED ran yellow and guessed he was looking them up. 

“Don’t google search them, just look at the picture and pick which one you like.” Gavin sighed at him as Richard seemed to pause, looking more than lost at the idea. 

“I don’t know what they are about.” he asked as if it were a question and Gavin moved around the coffee table to stand over him. 

“Then read the back, don’t look them up.” Gavin waved a hand down at the movies in the RK’s hands. “If you look up the story it will spoil it.” 

Richard nodded and Gavin took it as a win, he moved around the other and took a seat next to him. Richard took his time to look at them all, there were only five but he made it seem like Gavin had offered him the whole of film history. 

He studied each box carefully, flipping them all over and reading the synopsis for each one. Gavin grabbed his beer and took a few drinks as he waited. 

“I...” Gavin hummed at him through his bottle and Richard shook his head, brow furrowed as he moved the cases around in his hands. “I can’t decide.” 

Gavin snorted and shook his head at him. “It’s not that hard.” 

“For you.” was his snide reply and Gavin leant forward and took them from him. He held up the cases on their side, so only the blue of the box was showing and pointed at them with his beer. 

“There. Pick one.” 

Richard tiled his head to the side before reaching up and pointing at one in the middle. Gavin dropped the others next to him and stood, making his way over to the TV. 

“What did I choose?” Richard asked and Gavin shot him a look over his shoulder. 

“You’ll have to see.” 

 

Gavin was watching him intensely. They were only halfway through the first movie and Richard had sat forward not even ten minutes past the opening, and was now staring at the TV, unblinking. It was slightly unnerving to watch him stare, eyes wide but Gavin realised that blinking was probably an unnecessary program to make him look more human, and he had told him to relax after all. It gave him an odd feeling to think that Richard didn’t have to worry about being uncomfortable with what he was around him. 

The movie he had picked turned out to be The Lion King. Gavin had almost laughed when Richard had pulled a face when Mufasa had died, but even he wasn’t totally dead inside and watching the cartoon lion die was still slightly upsetting, even as an adult. 

So, he’d just sat, and watched. Watched Richard that was. He’d seen the movie enough to hazard a guess at what part they were up to without actually looking at it. 

Gavin wondered if he was analysing it. He hadn’t said a word since it started and had clearly become fascinated by it. 

Richard has the smallest of reactions to things, his face changing only in the slightest as everything played out. Every time a point came up that Gavin knew was something important to the story, he kept his eyes trained on RK. 

As soon as Timone and Pumba broke out into Hakuna Matta he gave Richard a nudge with his knee. The other gave him a glance over his shoulder and Gavin nodded at the TV. 

“A motto you should get behind.” Richard turned back to the movie and Gavin chuckled into his beer as he side eyed him. 

They sat quietly after that until Rafiki hit Simba on the head with his stick and Richard let out a small laugh, Gavin froze staring at him, bottle at his lips, as RK looked back at him with a smug smile. 

“A motto you should get behind.” 

‘... the past can hurt, but the way I see it, you can either run from it... or learn from it.’ 

Gavin sent him a glare before taking a drink. “Shut the fuck up.” 

 

“So, thoughts?” Gavin asked, standing and moving to change the movie. 

Richard paused for thought, tilting his head slightly as he glanced to the side. “It was... good. I liked it.” 

Gavin gave him a smile before nodding and pointing at him with the box. 

“And you wanted to go to work.” He mocked as he knelt down. 

Richard smiled at him with a small nod. “Yes, I must agree, this is much better. We should do this again.” 

Gavin paused, staring at the disk in his hand. Well shit. He let out a rushed nervous laugh before shaking his head. 

“Yeah, if you want.” 

“I would like that.” Gavin looked back at him, Richard was giving him the sincerest look he’d ever seen on him and he didn’t know what to do with it. Gavin cleared his throat before standing and moving back over to the couch. 

“Well let’s get through today first, before we go arranging any second dates.” Gavin took a long drink, avoiding eye contact with the other by staring intensely at the screen, hoping the joke had landed. 

 

Richard seemed to be just as into Hercules as he had been with the other, sitting forward and unblinking as he watched the animation play out. Gavin figured that no matter what he was probably going to watch them all like that, with an odd fascination. 

He just finished his beer before Hercules trashed the market place, deciding that he would be able to pee and grab another before the musical number started. Richard watched him as he stood and Gavin just pointed to his bottle before walking off.  

Gavin washed his hands and gave himself a long look in the mirror, he could hear the movie playing in the room over, placing what part it was at, and he knew he had time. 

What the hell was he doing? Where had his life gone so off track? 

Two months ago, he was throwing threats at Connor from across the room and joking with Tina about hitting him with his car. And now? He was sat watching he’s favourite childhood movies with his own android partner.  

What the hell happened and when the hell did it happen? 

It wasn’t just that, two months ago, Tina was the only one who knew about him being related to Kamski. Even Connor hadn’t managed to put two and two together on that one, and he’d come face to face with the guy. 

Now pretty much the whole precinct knew and he didn’t even care. His family and his past was something he held close to his chest, and now it was out there and he had nothing to hide. 

Maybe that was it. The weight from his shoulders lifted by having a screaming match with Elijah in the middle of the station. Maybe he should yell at Elijah more often. He could work on that. 

Or maybe, just maybe, it was the android sitting on his couch. 

Richard had changed a lot in his life. The way he worked. The way he spoke to the other androids in the station, hell even the way he spoke to the humans at work had been toned down slightly. 

Gavin brushed back his fringe from his head, he needed a haircut, his hair was getting shaggy and the little strands were falling close to his eyebrows now. He kind of liked it though, made him look a little younger. He’d think about it. Once he was done with his mid-life crisis. 

He walked from the bathroom and was on his way to the fridge when he stopped short. 

“What are you doing?” 

Richard froze in place, one hand holding the photo album on the coffee table open, the other suspended in air, fingers twitching as he searched for his answer. 

Fucking busted, snooping around in Gavin’s shit. 

Gavin walked towards him, crossing his arms over his chest as he came to stand at the side of the other. Richard closed the book slowly and sat back against the couch, looking a little ashamed of himself. 

Good. 

“Well?” Gavin pressed and Richard gave him a shy look. 

“I was curious.” 

“You know curiosity killed the cat.” 

“But satisfaction brought it back.” Richard finished and Gavin let out a huff. 

“Well are you satisfied with yourself?” Gavin replied snidely and Richard sighed. 

“No.” Gavin dropped his arms and made a move for the fridge, suddenly craving another beer. Or six. “You made a good pirate.” 

Gavin stopped dead in his tracks, eyes widening. Oh god. There was a certain amount of smug in Richard’s voice he didn’t like, especially coming from a guy who just got caught poking around in Gavin’s past. 

Gavin straightened up and turned to face the other who, yup, was sat with a far too smug of a grin on his face. 

“I made an excellent pirate.” Gavin pointed at him.  “And don’t you forget it.” 

Richard smiled at him before moving forward again and pulling the book towards him, Gavin watched as he flicked it open again and looked up at him. He debated saying something, taking the book away and throwing it off the balcony. 

“I didn’t think you would have these.” Richard waved down at the book absently. “Photographs I mean, of you and Elijah.” 

Gavin swallowed the lump in his throat for the second time that day. Stupid photo albums, should have thrown them out years ago, burned them maybe. 

“Yeah well,” Gavin cleared his throat. “What can I say? I’m a sentimental guy.” 

“I’m glad.” Richard smiled at him again. “Otherwise I would have never had the opportunity to see you with an earring.” 

Oh, fuck. 

“Alright that’s enough.” Gavin rushed forward and pulled the book away as Richard beamed up at him. “No more of Gavin’s past, we watch movies in this house. We don’t need an embarrassing trip down memory lane.” 

“What if I want to know more about you?” 

Gavin blinked, hand still on the album. “Erm... why-why would you want to do that?” 

Great, now he was tripping over his words, perfect. It wasn’t that he had something to hide, Richard already knew most of the crap about him and Elijah. And considering Elijah had sent RK to be with him, he was pretty sure there wasn’t anything he could tell him that would put him off. 

But he’d never shown anyone these before. Not even Tina, she’d seen the odd picture of him as a kid but nothing like this. This was... a lot. Gavin had sure as shit never sat down with any of his previous partners and gone through pictures of him as a fucking kid. 

Then again, he’d never had a partner that lasted longer than three weeks so, there was that too. 

Richard was looking up at him, a sincere soft smile on his face. Gavin was weak. 

“I like learning things about you.” he replied honestly and Gavin almost laughed. “For example, I now know that you love Disney movies thanks to today.” 

“How about we learn one new thing a day? You’ll have to come back tomorrow to go nosing around at my childhood.” 

Richard raised a brow at him. “You know I will do that, don’t you? I will show up at 7am just to see these before your shift tomorrow.” 

Fucking androids. 

Gavin let go of the book, taking a step back and Richard smoothly slid it back in front of him, looking far too proud of himself for breaking him down. 

“Fine, but you tell no one.” Gavin demanded turning back to his quest for beer. “Not even Connor.” 

Richard pulled a face down at the book. “Why would I tell Connor?” 

“Because I know it was you who told him about my cat print socks, you dick.” 

Gavin threw himself down next to him and looked over his shoulder as Richard looked through the photos. They were mostly from when he was a kid, birthday parties and Halloween, everyone seemed to have a theme of looking as stupid as possible though. Typical Richard had grabbed this one out of all of them. 

“When was this?” Richard asked, pointing down at the certain pirate pic he’d mentioned earlier.  

The picture in question featured Gavin and Elijah. Two boys dressed in full pirate attire, both with black and white stripy ripped shorts and big baggy t-shirts. Gavin had a black bandanna on his head with skull and crossbones on the front, the back tied and hanging over his shoulder. Elijah had a big brown pirate hat on, the hat itself looked a touch too big as it hung slanted on his head. 

They were both wearing big smiles, all teeth and rosy cheeks. Gavin’s eyes were closed in a squint as he’d beamed at the camera. Elijah had an eye patch over one eye, holding a plastic sword over their heads as he smiled wide. 

“Halloween, I was nine or ten there, Eli was about twelve. Me and Elijah had an obsession with Pirates of the Caribbean.” Gavin found himself smiling at the memory. “He wanted to be captain but I complained so much my mom gave us both captain’s hats.” 

Gavin let out a small chuckle. “Eli wasn’t happy but he got over it when he actually got to getting candy, he has the worst sweet tooth, I’m surprised he still has teeth.” Gavin paused. “Well, he might not. For all I know they’re fake now but you know.” 

Richard hummed as he listened. “It was our last Halloween, after that Elijah was tested for being a genius or some shit. He was different after that, our parents stopped us from going the next year.” 

Gavin looked down at his hands before moving forward and grabbing his beer and taking a long drink. 

“You two looked cute.” Richard smiled at him and Gavin made a small sound in agreement. 

“We were the cutest.” Gavin smiled down at the bottle in his hands. “We shared our candy too, we were originally going to count up who had the most, you know, making them the best pirate.” 

“Of course.” Richard nodded.  

“But, we both had so much. We emptied our bags at the same time like idiots and it all kind of spread together. Eli said I could have his chocolate bars if he could have any caramel ones I had, so we counted it all up and shared it out.” 

Gavin took another drink and Richard, thankfully, moved onto another. 

“What about this?” 

It was Gavin stood in a dark blue suit, aged 14, his hair all slicked back and his suit looking a little too big for him. The scar on his nose was still red and angry looking at the time as he’d nervously posed for a picture with his brother. Eli was stood next to him in a similar black suit, thick black glasses halfway down his nose as he looked to the side, Gavin couldn’t remember what had pulled his attention away. 

“School dance.” Gavin shook his head in thought. “I think I was fourteen, broke my nose the year before. I hated taking pictures after that, just felt like shit looking at it.” 

“I thought you didn’t mind the scar.” Richard questioned, giving him a glance. 

“I don’t now but back then I hated it. At one point the girl next door who I used to talk to - had a huge crush on Eli by the way - she gave me make up to cover it up.” Richard raised a brow at him and Gavin shrugged. “I was a kid and insecure, plus when you first start liking people you want to look perfect for them and I was a little too aware of how much I wasn’t.” 

“I like the way you look.”  

Gavin blinked at him. 

“Yeah, well... thanks.” Richard gave him a small smile before looking back at the photo. Gavin took another drink before he continued. “Anyway, there was this boy. Kevin. He was in Elijah’s year and he was just... everything.” Gavin laughed and shook his head. “I was obsessed with him, and he came out as bi like two weeks before the dance and I told Eli that was I gunna ask him to dance with me.” 

“Did he?” 

“No. He laughed in my face.” Richard turned his head and Gavin noticed the frown on his face. “I got over it, but at the time, he broke my fucking heart. Eli said he was going to rig the sprinkler system to go off in all his classes.” Gavin let out a small laugh. “I hated him for so long, he was the reason I started covering my scar. He made me feel like no one would ever like me with it.” 

“He was wrong.” Richard stated sternly and Gavin almost choked on his beer. 

“You know I’m okay with it now right, you don’t need to fill me with confidence. I don’t mind how I look.” Richard seemed to look him over, scanning his face before nodding lightly and turning back to the album. 

“So how do you explain the matching piercings?” Richard smirked, changing the tone. 

“That was fucking Eli. Asshole was full of bright ideas.” Gavin huffed. “He just did it one day, said he was looking at old pictures of punk rockers, he had this fucking edgy emo kid aesthetic that he just loved to make mood boards for and shit, he found it and thought it was cool.” 

“If you thought it was stupid, why did you do it?”  

“Because! He said it wouldn't hurt, which I fucking believed like an idiot. And two, I was a teenager and at the time.... it did look pretty cool.” Gavin took a quick drink of his beer and Richard let out a chuckle. “Shut up okay, I got rid of it a week later when Kevin told me it looked stupid.” 

“Was this before or after he told you, you weren’t good enough to dance with?” 

Gavin huffed at him and shook his head. “After, but it wasn’t because of that. Not mostly anyway.” 

“I’m glad you don’t think like that anymore.” 

Gavin snorted. “If I thought like that, me and you wouldn’t get into so many fights.” 

“Maybe not.” Richard chuckled and shook his head. “But I like you just the way you are. Misplaced ego and all.” 

“Fuck you.” Gavin spat back but there was no heat behind it, he was smiling when Richard pointed to another picture. 

“What about this one, is that your mother?” Gavin looked down to where he was being directed and took in a deep breath. 

“Yeah.” 

The picture was old, much older than the others. One of the corners had been bent forward and back, leaving a little line in the top corner. It was taken just after his mother had tried again with his father, Elijah’s mother had been sick, she’d died before he was even six. 

Gavin’s dad had left them before he could remember him, he remembered the stories his mother told him though. About him cheating, about finding out about Elijah. She once told him a story about how his dad had promised to come over, to come and see Gavin.  

His mother told him the second the phone had rung she knew he wasn’t coming.  

After hearing, about how she’d watched him standing on the arm of their couch, head under the curtain, looking down the street, ready for his dad to come and see him for once. She told him how much it had broken her heart to watch him standing there, waiting, so ready to see his father. She said it had taken her over an hour to work up the courage to tell him that his dad wasn’t coming after all. 

Gavin never forgot that. Never forgot the look on this mother face when she’d told him everyone deserves a second chance, and invited his dad and Elijah to come live with them. 

Elijah was seven, he was five. He didn’t remember what had happened, or when it had been taken. But he knew it was one of the first pictures of him and Elijah together. 

There was his mother, stood to the side of the boys sat on the floor, smiling brightly down at them, hands pressed together as if mid applause. Elijah was holding his hand out, cake smeared all over it, with a big smile on his face as he looked down at Gavin, arms up in the air, mouth as wide as he would get it. 

Both of them were covered in frosting and crumbs.  

Richard looked back at him and frowned, Gavin shook his head and took another swig of his beer. 

“I don’t know much about it, just that it’s me and Eli.” 

“I’m sorry, Gavin.” 

“Don’t be. I don’t need them.”  

Gavin felt a twisting in his gut. He spent twenty plus years on his own. Hadn’t spoken to his parents in all of those years. Had actively avoided Eli for pretty much the same amount of time, until the station a week ago. 

He didn’t need family. He was fine on his own. 

Wasn’t he? 

“We’ve missed half the movie.” Richard’s voice pulled him out of his head and Gavin looked up at him blankly. Richard gave him a small smile before pointing to the TV, Gavin followed the line of his finger. 

“Oh.” Hercules was in the middle of the Hero to Zero number. “Nah, it’s only like twenty minutes, we can put it back.” 

“Okay.” Richard smiled and closed the album, Gavin stared at it for a long time. 

He didn’t need family. He was fine on his own and he always would be. 

But he missed them. 

Only a little. 

Or a lot. 

Sometimes. 

 

April. 16th. 2039 

“Okay, so this is what we know,” Gavin started, Richard was sat on the edge of his desk looking down at their notes littered across it. “The warehouse was a small operation, nothing much going on there but, it did link to the major operation going on just east of the city.” 

Gavin pointed to his terminal screen with his pen. “Whatever they’re doing its low key, enough to keep them under the radar, but we know most of the Red Ice is coming from them.” 

“We’ve tried going door to door but either no one knows anything or they are making sure no one tells anyone anything.” Richard added and Gavin nodded back. 

“Yeah, they’re using small labs to create their supplies but the main operation is running around here somewhere.” He pointed to an area on their local map on his screen. “We need to find the building they’re using to hold everything, for all we know they have another location that they’re using to actually make and ship the stuff out from.” 

Gavin sighed and sat forward, half-heartedly throwing his pen on his desk. “We’re going around in circles. Every perp we’ve arrested in the past two months has given us nothing.” 

Richard stood from the desk and moved to stand behind Gavin’s chair, leaning over him and looking toward the terminal screen. 

“There’s no pattern; every dealer comes from a different area. Each lab we’ve found is randomly located, and the two suppliers we’ve managed to hunt down have sent us to dead ends.” 

“This case is a dead end.” Gavin sighed, slumping back in his chair. “No matter who we bring in or where we go, it leads to nothing. It’s endless. Whoever is running this is seriously organised, they’ve got half the city running shit for them and it’s chaos.” 

Richard hummed in agreement as he stood straight and made his way back to his own desk. Gavin watched him take a seat before leaning across. 

“We can’t figure this out until we narrow down the area. We need to find a lab and track their moves until it leads us to the main operation.” 

Richard shook his head. “It’s no use, the last three suppliers we’ve followed have sent us to dead ends.” 

“Then we need to find how they’re getting their Thirium.” Gavin gestured at him. “Anything come back from what you took the other day?” 

Richard shook his head. “Nothing. It’s not like blood, it doesn’t register to a specific android, only a shipment and those cases could go anywhere, to anyone.” 

Gavin sighed and threw himself back in his chair, he ran his hand over his face and through his hair. 

“We have to get something soon, I’m going crazy.” Richard sent him a smirk and Gavin shook his head. “Good to know it isn’t bothering you half as much.” 

“Don’t get me wrong, detective. I hate this just as much as you, but I’m less susceptible to frustration.” 

Gavin shot him a scowl. “Dick.” 

Richard chuckled at the response before pointing to his terminal. “We could check in with the patrols, see if they have anything we can go check up on.” 

“Fine.” Gavin sighed, dropping his hands and pushing himself to his feet. “You call around, I’m getting more coffee.” 

 

April. 18th. 2039 

The first thing Gavin realized when he opened his eyes was that he was cold. The second was that his head hurt. Hurt like hell. This wasn’t looking good. 

He shut his eyes tightly, trying to will away the pounding in his skull. He pressed his hands to his eyes and made a move to sit up. Everything ached. His lower back was killing him out of everything else, probably due to him being left unconscious on the floor for however long. 

The air was thick, there was a strange smell he couldn’t quite put his finger on but it was making his head hurt a little more. Wherever he was, it was dimly lit, but not dark. He waited for his eyes to adjust as he began to take in his surroundings.  

The floor was bare, just cold cement under him. The walls were peeling, the paper almost damp and ratty, patches were gone leaving bare drywall on display. The baseboards were broken and cracked in most places, leading him to begin to believe that the room he was in was maybe a spare room. 

The door was patchy, paint peeling against it in small areas mostly around the hinges, as if it had just begun to rot away. However it had begun to decay, it wasn’t filling him with confidence. This really wasn’t looking good. 

He sat up on his knees and tried to assess the damage. His head hurt, probably from a blunt force trauma. His neck was stiff, a result of sleeping on the solid floor no doubt, also why his back was aching. His elbow was sore, more than the other and he pulled off his jacket to see, nothing broken and no bruising, just a little redness. He guessed he’d fought back and managed to crack someone before he’d been knocked out. 

He scrunched up his face, no damage there then. Just a hit to the back of the head. Great. He tugged his jacket back on and moved to sit cross legged against the wall. 

Now all he could do was wait, see who or what showed up to greet him and fill him in on what the hell was going on. 

 

“Nines, calm down.” Connor watched his brother pace in front of their desk. Hands clasped tightly behind his back, fingers balled up into a fist. “We’re working on it.” 

“Well work faster.” Richard snapped back and Connor sighed. 

Hank ignored the exchange, quickly typing away at his terminal. Connor was perched on the edge of his desk, helping where he could. It was a slow process, Hank would narrow down a location, Connor would take the information and run it through every database he could. They’d managed to rule out three locations so far, but it wasn’t easy. 

“What’s taking so long?” Richard snapped again and Connor moved to stand as he turned on Hank, putting himself between them. 

“We weren’t left with much to follow. We are using what evidence we have but we have to be careful, we can’t waste time running around Detroit.” Richard looked away from him and Connor glanced back at Hank. “We’ll find it. We’ll find him.” 

 

The door creaked open and Gavin threw his arm up to shield his eyes from the light that poured in. A silhouette stood in the doorway, Gavin noted that their hands were shaking as they walked toward him, leaving the door open behind them. He managed to glance out, his guessing was right, beyond the door seemed to be a basically decorated apartment. He could make out a sofa, a chair and a table. 

Gavin looked up at the one standing in front of him, a guy. Young, maybe in his late twenties. His face was still dark in shadow but Gavin could see the shakes wracking his body as he tried to appear threatening. 

“So, what now?” Gavin asked up at his captor. “You going to invite me out for a beer?” 

His snide humour wasn’t appreciated and he was rewarded with a punch. His head snapped to the side, he could feel his cheek heating up from the hit, but it was weak. “No? What about a coffee? I take two sugars and cream.” 

Another hit, this one was a little harder. Gavin waited for the hit to settle in his skin, pain dulling into an ache. Still no blood, not strong enough to break skin then, good for him. 

“I’ve had better.” Gavin was pulled to his feet by his jacket, he went with it and let himself the held against the wall. His eyes adjusted to the light a little better and he could make out a face. 

Defiantly a young guy, maybe closer to twenty than thirty. His eyes were dark and red, bags under them sitting deep as if he’d maybe not slept in a few weeks. 

“Whatever you want me to tell you, I can’t.” Gavin started. “Because I have no clue what the hell is going on. But you can help me, tell me why I’m here.” 

“We don’t want information.” Gavin snorted and shook his head. 

“We?” 

The door creaked again and a much bigger, oh woah, shit yeah. A much, much bigger guy stepped in. Oh, fuck his life. 

“This isn’t about information, it’s about sending a message.” The one holding him smiled bitterly with a mouth full of browning teeth. 

“Oh good.” Gavin sneered back. “I’m good at sending those, though these days I find myself running out of skin to carve any stupid message into. So good luck.” 

“Oh, don’t worry,” The other chimed in, the smaller guy moved back leaving Gavin standing back against the wall. “We’ll find space.” 

The clever retort was whiped out of him as the guy sucker punched him in the gut. Gavin doubled over with a shout, his captor held him up, throwing him back up against the wall. Gavin tried to steel himself for the next hit that he knew was coming, yeah, this really wasn’t looking good for him today. 

 

Richard grabbed Tina first, she had been pacing the breakroom all day. Not wanting to interfere but wanting to be close enough to be there when they found him, she’d even stayed after her shift. He didn’t say a word, simply waved her over with one quick sharp motion, and she joined the group in seconds as Connor asked him to help trace the location. 

Hank nodded to her as she approached them. “Looks like a small group, they distribute red ice in the downtown area, he and Gavin have made a few arrests to their team.” Hank stated as he pulled up the file as Connor sat quietly beside him, arm linked with Richard as they worked together. 

“And I’m guessing they aren’t too happy about that.” Tina commented. 

Hank nodded back. “Probably going to use him as a ransom, send a few threats and demand their guys back. These people usually don’t want money, they need hands more than cash.” 

Tina glanced over at the two androids. Connor’s eyes were dancing behind his eyelids, face twitching, whereas Richard was just stood opposite him, face blank. Both their LED’s spinning yellow as they ran through everything they could.  

“Got it.” Connor’s eyes flew open upon the revelation, but Richard was already moving. Dropping Connor's hand, the second he had seen it, and swiftly moving towards the station exit. 

“So, we follow yeah?” Tina looked between the two as Hank rushed up from his chair and grabbed his jacket, throwing on it a little hurriedly, so much so he missed the sleeve the first time, and had to swing it back a little to put it on. 

“Yeah, before he leaves us behind.” Tina broke into a jog to catch up as Connor and Hank followed just as quick behind. 

 

Gavin heard the door blow open, he the heard shouting and chaos from the other room. But he couldn’t bring himself to move, everything ached like hell, his head even too heavy to lift from the ground. 

“Help.” he managed to choke out weakly to the door. “In here.” 

The door swung open and Gavin flinched at the light, regretting it immediately as his side pulled and sent a new wash of pain over him. He curled into himself the best he could with a groan, arm dragging up to cover his face. 

Someone dropped next to him and he fought the urge to scramble back. Hands were suddenly on his face, that did make him move and he pulled back sharply, the movement forcing a hiss out of him as he whole body seem to protest the flinch with pain. 

“It’s okay, it’s okay, Gavin.”  

“Tina.” Gavin sighed out and forced a smile up at her as relief flooded him, her hands brushed his hair back from his head, thumb brushing gently over the swelling on his check. 

“How you doing, handsome?” 

“Great,” Gavin croaked out. “I’m still pretty, right?” 

Tina let out a laugh and Gavin cracked an eye open at the sound. She shook her head down at him. 

“You were never pretty, Gavin.” 

“Bitch.” Gavin let out a sigh as medics flooded the room and Tina scooted behind him, propping his head up on her leg as she continued to run her fingers through his hair. 

“That’s three you owe me.” She smirked down at him and Gavin gave her a moan in response. 

“Doesn’t count.” 

Tina laughed and nodded up at the doorway. “I guess you right, he did most of the work.” 

Gavin craned his head slightly to see. Richard was standing in the doorway, hands clenched by his sides as he watched them. 

“Hey, Robocop.” Gavin choked out, Richard’s attention snapped to him and Gavin gave him a weak smile. “You miss me?” 

“As much as it pains me to admit, yes. I did miss you, Detective.” 

Gavin let out a small laugh before pain shot up his side pulling a sharp yell from him, his back arched as he reached up blindly, Tina caught his arm as he dug his fingers into her wrist. She hushed him as he bit back another cry, teeth grinding as he harshly panted through it, feet kicking a little wildly as he squirmed. 

Tina looked up at Richard to see him a step closer, frozen like he’d begun to move forward on instinct but the way his fingers twitched in the air, it seemed he didn’t know what to do. 

“Get over here.” She hissed out quietly and he didn’t need to be told twice. 

Richard moved quickly, moving to kneel at Gavin’s side, hands hovering as he seemed to be working out where to put them. Tina nodded at her wrist, where Gavin was clinging to her. He followed her instruction and slowly uncurled Gavin’s fingers from her sleeve, taking his hand into his own. 

Gavin flinched again, face screwing up as one of the medics pressed a cold pack to his side and held it there. 

“It’s alright.” Tina hushed, hand coming to rest on his forehead as Gavin let out a choked pained noise. “We’ve got you.” 

“N-No hospital.” Gavin pled through a groan and Tina shot Richard a tired look. 

“Every time.” She sighed and shook her head down at him. “If they say go, you go. I’ll knock you out myself if I have to.” 

Gavin groaned in response, turning his head to the side and shutting his eyes tight again as the medics pressed around at his ribs. Tina looked up at Richard and shook her head again. 

“He does this every time. Once showed up at my place, fucking bleeding everywhere. Stab wound to the thigh, refused to go to the hospital.” 

“You fixed me.” Gavin whined and Tina shook his head a little under her palm making him groan up at her. 

“Not the point. You’re the worst.” Tina sighed. “He will refuse medical attention any chance he gets, choosing to bleed on my couch rather than going to a sterile hospital.” 

“I’m fine.” Gavin grumbled and Tina let out a huff.  

“Yeah, ain’t that a shame.” 

 

“You don’t have to stick around, you know,” Gavin sighed as Richard helped him into bed, arm over his shoulders as he helped him lower down against the mattress. “I can look after myself.” 

Richard gave him a look before moving down and grabbing the cover, holding it up so Gavin could straighten his legs out without getting tangled. 

To be honest, Gavin did appreciate the help. Just the walk up the stairs to his apartment was a pain, very literally, so he was glad Richard was there helping him.  

Didn’t mean he had to act like it. 

Gavin settled back against the bed as Richard pulled his covers up and over him. They had cut his shirt off to apply some bandages, but it was covered in dirt and floor and was just overall not good anyway, the medics had thankfully let him go with a handful of painkillers and a note to go grab more in the morning. 

Richard had been pretty quiet since they’d head back, walking Gavin home and helping him to get unchanged with only small instructions. Gavin didn’t have the energy to really complain so he’d just let the android fuss over him like a god damn nanny. That, and he really didn’t want to bend over to take his own shoes off. 

“Jesus,” Gavin tugged the quilt from his hands and held it against his chest when Richard went to fucking tuck him in. “Just stop alright, stop playing maid. I’m fine.” 

Richard straightened up, looking him over before shaking his head lightly and walking from the room. Gavin sighed and tried to make himself comfortable, shutting his eyes and more than ready for sleep. 

A soft thunk next to his head made him open them again and he looked up to see Richard placing a glass of water on his bedside table, next to it two more of his painkillers. 

“I’ll be in the next room, if you need me.” Richard spoke softly and Gavin gave him a noncommittal noise before closing his eyes again. 

 

The next time he opened them, he could see the light from outside beaming around the edges of his curtains. Gavin moved before his sleep addled brain could follow and a rush of pain shot up his side. 

“Fuck.” Gavin hissed, freezing up and trying to lie as still as possible as not to aggravate the already throbbing pain over his ribs. 

He looked to the side and the glass of water caught his eye. Ahh yes, painkillers felt like a very good idea right now. Gavin carefully began to pull himself up, his side protesting with every small movement. He managed to pull himself into a half sit, wincing as he reached over to grab the glass. 

His door opened and he looked up to see Richard looking down at him, an edge of amusement across his face.  

Gavin sighed and dropped his arm back to the bed. “Don’t even say it, just pass me the fucking glass.” 

Richard moved swiftly and Gavin shuffled himself up against the pillows, Richard held the glass, waiting as he made himself as comfortable as he could. Gavin looked him over before giving him a huff and waving at him. 

“Just give it to me.” He grumbled and Richard smirked down at him as he passed him the glass. 

Gavin waited for a moment, expecting to be handed his meds before looking back to the table. Gavin sighed and rolled his head against the headboard. 

 “Seriously.” He complained and Richard gave him a half shrug. 

“You asked for the glass, you were given the glass.” He gave Gavin a pointed look. “Be thankful I didn’t dump the water on you.” 

Gavin huffed again. “Just give me the fucking pills alright, I’m in pain.” 

Richard let out a small laugh before handing them over and watching Gavin drink them down, he took the glass without comment when Gavin handed it back to him and held it as Gavin looked around the room, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. 

“What time is it?” Gavin asked as he glanced around. 

“A little after noon.” Richard supplied as he looked him over. 

Gavin looked down at himself, sinking back carefully against the pillows and began unwrapping his bandages to take in the damage. His side, from just below his armpit to his hip was a mash of angry reds and purples, patches of red ran across his stomach and his chest was going a little colourful too. 

“Shit.” He sighed, poking lightly at each spot. “They fucked me up, huh?” 

“Indeed.” Richard sounded a little amused and Gavin looked up at him. 

“What the hell happened?” he asked looking back down at himself, absently throwing the bandage off the other side of his bed. 

“They took you. I was examining the evidence left inside the building when I heard you struggling.” Gavin hummed as he listened. “I made it outside just as they took you, chased their van halfway down the freeway before I lost them.” 

Gavin blinked up at him. “Holy shit, really?” 

Richard nodded, looking him over. Gavin looked down at himself once more before pulling the cover a little higher. Richard looked away, casting his eye to the glass in his hand before he looked back up at him again. 

“I made you something to eat.” Gavin shot him a surprised looked and Richard let out a quick breath. “You’re not supposed to take your medication on an empty stomach, plus I assumed you would wake up hungry.” 

“Oh.” Gavin moved again, slowly pulling his legs around to swing them across the edge of the bed. “Well you wanna help me get to it or you going to watch me suffer?” 

Gavin looked up at him as Richard took a step back and nodded down at him. “I want to see how far you get without me.” 

“Prick.” Gavin grumbled leaning forward and slowly pushing himself up, he managed to get to his feet, side pulling a little and sending a pinch of pain through him. Gavin wrapped a hand around himself, hand resting on the part radiating the most ache as he attempted to take a few steps.  

It was not successful.

The first step he took was unsteady and the ache in his side turned fast to a throb. Richard practically threw the glass down as Gavin wobbled on his feet and curled over with a hiss. Gavin felt hands steady him by his shoulders and looked up with a small defeated wince. 

“Well, that was ego crushing.” he groaned and Richard shook his head with a small laugh. 

“You made it further than I thought you would.” he replied amused and Gavin shot him a weak glare. 

“Prick. Thought you were supposed to be taking care of me?” 

“I thought you didn’t need my help.” He shot back with a raised brow and Gavin sneered back at him. 

“Yeah, well. I changed my mind, alright? What do you want from me, I’m only human.” 

“I know, it’s such a burden.” 

“Such a  _prick_.” Gavin muttered. 

Richard moved around him, standing by his good side and taking Gavin’s arm, helping support his weight as he made his way toward the living room. He walked Gavin to the couch and helped set him down slowly. Gavin held out an arm, searching for the seat as he was carefully lowered down. 

“Ugh. Why is it always me who takes a beating?” Gavin grumbled as he settled back, sinking into the cushions as Richard took a step back. 

“Do you really want me to answer that?” Richard smiled and Gavin flipped him off. 

“You’re a real dick today, you know that?” He huffed as Richard simply walked away toward the kitchen. “And this better be fucking tasty or else I’m gunna throw it at you.” 

“I expect nothing less.” 

Gavin grumbled to himself as he tried to find a way to slouch without making his side hurt. Not an easy task, but he seemed to manage a position that only pulled a little. Richard came back over with a sandwich, the bread was lightly toasted and it smelt fucking amazing, Gavin had to catch himself before he drooled all over himself. 

Gavin was handed the plate and a refilled glass of water was placed on the coffee table as the took it. 

“What, no beer?” 

Richard gave him a look before walking towards the TV, ignoring his comment. He loaded up the movie and took a seat next to Gavin as he ate. Gavin had to admit, it was good. It was basically a cheese grill with bacon but it was more than he was expecting.  

Richard took the plate from his lap wordlessly as he took the last bite and handed him the glass of water as he stood and made his way back to the kitchen. Gavin watched him move as he came back and took the seat next to him again and, for once, sunk back against the couch as he resumed watching. 

“Not your favourite?” Gavin asked and Richard simply shrugged lightly. 

“I feel like I have the basic theme analysis down. And I’m in no doubt we will watch this again some time, so I’m sure I will have the opportunity to study it later if I need to.” 

Gavin huffed out a laugh. “So, short answer, no.” 

Richard shot him a look in reply. 

 

 _He can hear voices._  

 _He can hear his own voice._  

 _The_ _stairs_ _have never felt longer._  

 _“This is perfect.” His mother, happy? Elated?_   _Impressed_ _?_  

 _“_ _Oh,_ _Elijah this is amazing, thank you.”_  

 _What did wonder boy do now._  

 _The voice is louder now, something sinks in his gut._  

 _Fear?_ _Hatred_ _?_ _Disappointment_ _?_  

 _Betrayal._  

 _It hurts._  

 _It’s_ _his face._  

 _It has his everything._  

 _Everything._  

 _Silence._  

 _Elijah looks scared._  

 _He should._  

 _“Gavin.”_  

 _“_ ** _What did you do?_ ** _”_  

 

April. 20th. 2039 

Gavin gasped awake, whole body jolting up before he could get a hold of himself. His side flared up in pain, knocking the wind out of him and his back arched against it in response. Wincing his hand flew to his side as he tried to stop himself from tensing against it. 

His door opened as he tried to regain his composure, breathing through his nose as he clenched his jaw. Richard was hovering over him quicker than he could blink and Gavin sank back a little. 

“Your heart rate elevated suddenly.” Richard offered in explanation, like Gavin gave a shit why he’d come in. 

“S’what happens.” Gavin grit out before taking a heavy but unsteady breath. “Nightmare.” 

Gavin hoped he didn’t need more of an explanation and was thankful when Richard seemed to understand, nodding back at him as Gavin closed his eyes and continued trying to settle himself. 

“I can go get you some more pain relief if you like?” Richard asked and Gavin shook his head weakly. 

“I’m fine.” Gavin sighed out shakily. 

The pain in his side was nulling down to a dull ache, enough that he could pull his hand back and he ran it through his hair. His fringe was sticking to his forehead and he let out a deep sigh. 

“You’re running a fever.” Richard stated as if he’d read Gavin’s mind. 

“Great.” Gavin huffed out, hand falling back to the bed. It was then he noticed the ball of fluff curled up next to him and he gave the cat a few scratches between its ears. 

“I’ll leave you to sleep.” Richard stated, making a move for the door and Gavin turned his attention to him. 

“Better idea.” Gavin started and Richard paused to turn back to face him. “Help me up, we can go watch a movie.” 

“You need to sleep.” Gavin rolled his eyes, already making a move to pull his cover back. 

“Yeah, think I’m done sleeping for tonight.” Gavin made a strained noise as he tried to pull himself up. “Fuck.” 

Richard was already making his way over and helped him sit up, legs swinging over the edge of the bed. 

“I do advise you rest.” Richard commented and Gavin replied with a bitter laugh. 

“Never had a nightmare have you, tin can?” Richard shook his head and Gavin huffed at him. “Yeah, exactly, just do as I say for once.” 

Richard gave him a pensive look, as if he debating simply pushing Gavin back on the bed and holding him down until he gave up. Gavin waited, looking up at him as he was stared down before Richard moved and walked out of the room. Gavin let out an irritated sound before shaking his head. 

“Prick.” He began to pull himself up before Richard walked back in the room, he placed something on the end of the bed before putting a hand to Gavin’s shoulder and pushing him back down. “Seriously?” 

Gavin watched him with a frown as Richard moved around him, pulling the cover all the way back before pointing to the bed. Gavin shot him a dirty look. 

“What did I just say?” 

Richard actually rolled his eyes before moving back around and grabbing Gavin’s legs by the ankles. Gavin barely managed to rush out a complaint before he was being - surprisingly gently - manhandled back into bed. 

Richard moved around, dragging the cover back up and throwing it over him, that cat still curled up, although with his head raised in annoyance at being disturbed. Gavin watched him with narrowed eyes as he walked around to the other side, he grabbed whatever he had thrown down before and moved to sit next to him on the bed. 

Gavin pulled himself up slowly, and albeit a little defeatedly, as Richard sat back against the headboard and opened Gavin’s laptop. Gavin stared at him stunned. 

“Where the hell did you find that thing?” It was old and covered in scratches, the edges of the mouse pad had worn down due to over use through the years. 

“It was in your boxes, the ones with the photo albums.” 

Fucking snooping again, fucking androids. 

“So, you went through my shit and found this relic?” Gavin huffed, gesturing down at the laptop as it booted up in Richard’s lap. 

“No. I was tidying away ‘your shit’ and found it. I thought it might be useful.” Richard relied back, tone dry as Gavin huffed at him. 

“You and your fucking tidying.” 

“Maybe if you cleaned once in a while, I wouldn't have to.” 

Gavin shook his head. “You don’t have to. For the last fucking time, you’re not my maid.” 

Richard hummed in disagreement but said nothing, the bright white of the screen filled the room and Gavin had to close his eyes against it. When he opened them, he looked down to see Richard pressing two fingers to the top corner of the screen. 

“What are you doing?” He questioned but didn’t receive a reply. He looked up at Richard to see he had his eyes closed, he was about to say something when the screen flickered and the Disney castle opening began to play. “Woah, are you doing that?” 

Gavin glanced between Richard and the screen. Richard gave him a nod in response, eyes still closed but didn’t say anything, face remaining blank. Gavin settled back against his pillows, head tipping back against the headboard as he watched Pocahontas began to play. 

“So, you can do that with anything?” 

Richard shook his head. 

“Could you do it with a TV?” 

Richard nodded. 

“Anything that has a screen I guess?” 

Richard nodded. Gavin paused for a moment and looked him over. 

“Does it take a lot? I mean like energy, is it hard to do?” 

Richard nodded. 

“Oh. You don’t have to.” 

Richard shook his head and Gavin looked back at the screen, sudden warm feeling spiking in his gut and he tried he best to push it down. 

“Guess I should shut up and watch then, huh?” 

Richard gave him a firm nod and Gavin snorted out a quiet laugh. 

 

Gavin blinked awake, shifting a little as he came around. He suddenly realised that he was sitting and looked up to see Richard.  

No. Wait. 

He was leaning on him. 

No. 

Sleeping on him. 

Gavin had fallen asleep against Richard’s shoulder. 

Well shit. 

There was a definite patch of drool on Richard’s shirt sleeve and Gavin mentally kicked himself. He pulled back and looked the other over. Did androids sleep? Gavin pulled himself up carefully, half not to irritate his injuries, half not to wake the android. The cat, still laid between them only curled up in the opposite direction to before, gave him a grumble and stretched out a little before settling back into sleep. 

Richard was sat against the headboard; his head was tipped back slightly and his eyes closed. He looked peaceful, oddly human, Gavin noted as he looked him over. The laptop was still in his lap, hand had dropped from the screen and by his side.  

Oh, yeah. The movie. Richard had said it was draining. Was that the problem? Did he run out of power? Did androids need charging? Were they solar powered?  

Well that sounded dumb as fuck but Gavin really didn’t know how the fuck this all worked. 

Gavin shifted again, trying not to move them around too much as he tried to get a glimpse of the others LED. He’d never seen Richard sleep, then again, he knew androids had a kind of power down mode but he didn’t know what it looked like. 

He’d seen the androids at the station go into a kind of stasis, standing against the wall, waiting for an order. Now he thought about it, it sounded a little fucked up. Is this what Richard did at cyberlife? Did he just stand in a corner, a slot under his name, no, his number, and just shut down? 

Yeah, he didn’t want to think about it anymore. 

Watching him now, sat next to him pretty much sleeping, he didn’t want to think about it. It just felt wrong. Richard was a living thing. Fuck, he’d stayed up for god only knew how long, powering Gavin’s old academy laptop so he could watch a movie in bed. 

He managed to move enough to see around Richard’s head and noticed the LED on his temple was slowly blinking between nothing and yellow. 

That was good, right? 

Yellow meant thinking? He’d seen him shine yellow while working so that meant something, right? 

Fuck. Gavin really needed to know these things. 

Wait. Why did he? Since when did he feel the fucking need to know this shit? 

Gavin watched Richard’s sleeping face for a moment longer. 

 _Oh_. That’s why. 

Well shit. 

Gavin took a deep breath, pushing down that sinking feeling in his stomach making its way up to his throat again. He needed to get a hold of himself. Richard was his partner, not to mention he was an android, and Gavin clearly didn’t have the first fucking clue how they worked. 

He shuffled back a little, looking to the side and finding the glass of water. He didn’t care that it was a little stale, as long as he could use it to throw back some more pain meds he was good. After he’d re-dosed he moved back to Richard, who still hadn’t changed an inch since he’d stopped watching him. 

He was debating waking him up, giving him a little shake, when curiosity seemed to get the better of him. He was a detective after all, wanting to figure things out was only part of his nature, he’d be a pretty bad cop if he didn’t show a little intuition every now and again.  

Even if it was to satisfy his own selfish needs. 

Gavin leaned forward, face only inches from the other, and reached out a careful hand. He placed it gently on Richard’s chest. He was breathing, well whatever the android equivalent to breathing was. Did all androids do that? Was it to seem more human? Richard was made to blend in and it made sense. 

Gavin found himself kind of staring. His hand came up to hover over Richard’s face, he could feel the light rush of his breath against him palm. Huh. So, he was breathing. Did he have to? He didn’t have to blink, so surely, he didn’t have to breathe, right? 

Then again, humans didn’t really need to blink to live. Gavin brought his hand back down to Richard’s chest, and for a moment, Gavin wondered if he could feel a heartbeat. Androids had a heart, he knew that much.  

He knew the basics but he had to remember, Richard was different, he and Connor were new and strange. They are designed to be more human, designed to blend in with deviants in order to understand them and hunt them. 

Gavin realised that he didn’t actually know an awful lot about deviants either. He really needed to ask Richard some questions when he could, he should really know how they worked. 

Richard shifted under his hand and Gavin pulled back quickly, hoping it wasn’t obvious he had just been touching him up in his sleep. Wow. Gavin was a fucking idiot sometimes. 

Richard made a soft, sleepy noise that made Gavin’s stomach twist. Jesus, he really had to get a hold of himself. 

Gavin watched as Richard’s eyes opened, he blinked a few times before straightening up a little and looking down at Gavin, as if they weren't sat inches apart in Gavin’s fucking bed. Richard gave him a look, head tilting in confusion and Gavin suddenly felt nervous. 

“Your heartbeat is a little raised.” Shit. Shit, shit and fuck. “Are you alright, Gavin?” 

Gavin nodded, suddenly becoming very aware of his own tongue. “You were sleeping.” 

Gavin stated or rather avoided and Richard’s confused stare only deepened with a furrow of his brow. Richard moved forward, hand coming up and resting against Gavin’s forehead, Gavin had to fight the urge to close his eyes and lean into it. 

“You still have a slight fever, are you sure you're okay?” his voice was soft and Gavin nodded again, ignoring the way Richard’s fingers slipped back a little into his hair. 

“Yeah,” Gavin had to clear his throat. “Yeah, I’m fine. You were sleeping.” 

Richard gave a small laugh and pulled his hand back. “You’ve said that.” 

“Didn’t know you slept. Don’t really know much about you.” 

Richard hummed and sat up straighter, Gavin followed his every move cautiously as he watched him pull the laptop from his lap and place it to the side. 

“What would you like to know?” Richard help up a hand, a teasing expression lacing his features. “Try and keep the ‘dick’ mention to a minimum, if you can.” 

Gavin huffed out a laugh and shook his head. “Dick.” 

Richard gave him a light chuckle in response and Gavin looked back up at him, he seemed awfully calm and Gavin didn’t know where to start, so we went with what he felt. 

“I’m hungry.” He stated and Richard raised a brow at him. 

“Are you genuinely telling me that or are you dodging the opportunity?”  

Gavin shrugged easily. “Both.” 

It wasn’t a lie, and Richard seemed not to mind, moving from the bed and walking around toward the door. 

“Make yourself comfortable, I’ll bring you something.” 

“In bed?” Gavin asked a little dumbly and Richard simply nodded at him. 

“Yes. You have a fever, it’s bedrest for the rest of today.” 

Gavin watched him leave the room and moved himself around, the cat seemed to notice the shift and sat up, giving himself a few licks before jumping from the bed with a grumble and following the other. No doubt out for food and probably to be let out, you can take the stray out of the streets. 

Gavin settled back against the headboard a waited for Richard to come back. He looked to find his phone only to see a new one placed on the side in its place. He realised that he hadn’t actually seen his phone in two days and wondered if it had been broken when he was taken, he wondered if Richard had done it.  

Maybe he would let him send a message or two or if he’d tell him to stop avoiding him again. 

Probably the latter. And if he knew Richard, he’d probably already told everyone who gave a shit about him, he was fine. 

Richard came back with a cup of coffee, Gavin could smell it before he’d even walked through the door, and a bowl of something. 

An obvious thought stuck Gavin. 

“I have _never_ in my life bought soup.” Richard nodded back as he handed him the bowl and placed the coffee down on the side. 

“I am aware, you didn’t have any bread either.” Oh yeah, Gavin realised that he would have actually gone to the store after work the day he’d been taken. 

“Did you go fucking shopping?” Gavin huffed at him as Richard walked around the bed, to take his place from before next to him. He sat down a little too heavy and Gavin had to follow the bowl as the bed rolled under him. “Prick.” 

Gavin licked the edge of the bowl catching the little that had rolled over the side. “How did you pay for it?” 

“I used your card.” Gavin started at him for a moment. “I have no interest of stealing your identity, don’t worry.” 

Gavin snorted and began eating, around halfway through the bowl he looked up to see Richard watching him. “Stop that.” He snapped out, around a mouth half full. “It’s weird.” 

Richard simply shrugged and continued to watch him, Gavin huffed out around his spoon and shook his head. Fucking androids. 

“I didn’t know if you’d like it,” Richard began and Gavin hummed around his mouthful. “I took into account your tastes and what little food you did have around to guess what you would prefer.” 

“Well you did great.” Gavin paused before his next spoonful. “Can you eat?” 

Richard gave him a thoughtful head tilt in response before shaking his head. 

“I can consume a small amount but it’s mainly for testing, analysing the substance is all it’s really good for.” Gavin pulled a face. “Yes, I know, your favourite feature of mine.” 

“Just fucking weird.” 

Richard hummed. “Not really, it’s similar to taste, I just have a more accurate reading of the ingredients.” 

“Can you tell when something tastes bad? Or like, if you don’t like it?” Gavin pondered and Richard pulled a thoughtful face before half nodding.  

“In a way yes, I know when something is distasteful.” 

Gavin snorted. “So, if I fed you lemon juice, you’d make a face like a dog.” 

Richard gave him a pointed look and Gavin hummed a laugh around his spoon. Gavin finished the bowl and moved to set it down, grabbing the coffee from the table and holding it close to his face, he’d never smelled anything better in his life. 

“You look far too happy to be holding that.” Richard commented and Gavin sighed into the edge of the mug. 

“Oh, you have no idea.”  

Richard made an amused sound before gesturing between him and the cup. “Would you like me to leave you two alone?” 

Gavin took a sip and let out a moan around the mouthful.  

“Oh, fuck, do what you want.” Richard gave a chuckle as Gavin shook his head. “This is about to get weird and I don’t care what you think of me.” 

Richard let out a breath of laughter before scooting up the bed, Gavin watched him from the corner of his eye and pulled the cup a little closer to him. “You’re not taking this away from me.” 

“I’d be afraid you’d bite me if I tried.” Richard commented, amusement heavy in his voice. 

“Oh, you’d lose a hand for sure.” Gavin agreed, taking another sip and sitting back against the headboard. “Why are you letting me have this?” 

Richard shrugged easily. “You seemed unhappy after last night, and with your fever, I figured you would appreciate the kindness.” 

Gavin blinked at him, mug still held closely to his chin. “Well, thanks, I guess.” 

“Of course.” Richard nodded at him, giving him a sincere small smile and Gavin took a moment to hide in his coffee. “So, are you wanting to actually talk or was that a spur of the moment thing.” 

Fucking androids. Gavin sighed into his cup and pulled it down a little. 

“I... don’t know a lot about you. Like you as _you_ , and _you_ as... androids.” 

Richard gave him a small shake of his head. “I never thought you’d be interested. After the day at the station you’ve never asked about how we work.” 

Gavin snorted into the rim of his mug. “Do you not remember the ‘dick’ conversation?” 

“I’m trying my best not to.” Richard replied with deadpan tone and a blank face, and Gavin shook his head. 

“I mean, yeah, I want to know a little more but... It’s weird.” Gavin shrugged. “Seems ignorant.” 

“Gavin, I think we both know that you’re ignorant.” 

“Fuck off.” Richard huffed out a laugh and Gavin turned slightly to face him better. “I mean, I should know how you work. You’re my partner and I didn’t know that you slept until today. I mean I still _don’t_ know.” 

Richard hummed and gave him a small nod.  

“I do sleep, but it’s closer to a ‘power down’ mode if you like.” Richard pointed to his head. “I’m always awake, and I don’t dream. It’s a basic way to recalibrate and do system maintenance.” 

“Maintenance?” 

“I’m a machine, Gavin.” Richard replied gently. “I have to check for damages, and run system scans, and make sure all my programs are running effectively.” 

“That’s...” Gavin paused for a moment, looking down into his coffee. “Surprising, for some reason.” 

“Connor and I were designed to be a human as possible, he was built for a more social environment of course, but we share the same features.” Richard supplied and Gavin shook his head. 

“It’s so weird, I mean, you’re practically human.” Richard gave him a soft chuckle and Gavin looked him over. “You talk like a human, you tell shit jokes like a human, you fucking _sleep_ like one.” 

Gavin shook his head at him, a little dumbfounded. “It doesn’t feel right to hear this shit.” 

“We don’t have to talk about it?” Richard offered and Gavin appreciated the attempt to give him an out, but he asked for this, and he kind of did actually want to know.  

“No, I want to.” Gavin shot him a look. “I’ll let you know if it gets too weird.” 

Richard raised a brow at him. “Too weird? I just watched you get to second base with your coffee.” 

Gavin let out a laugh before he could stop himself and raised the cup to him. “What can I say, you make a mean cup of coffee.” 

“I think I shall refrain from doing so in the future.” 

“What, no!? You can’t take this away from me now, like ever!” 

Richard let out a small laugh. “I’ve fuelled something bad in you, haven’t I?” 

Gavin, for once in his life, held his tongue. More than you know, tin can. More than you know. 

 

April. 23rd. 2039 

Gavin looked himself over in the mirror, shirt hanging limply in his hands by his side. Richard had informed him that he’d actually been given a week off to recover. Not that he really felt he needed it, he could work just fine, at his desk anyway.  

He scanned over the mass of bruising, purple and green beginning to bloom just under his ribs and spreading down over the top of his stomach. He gave his side a cautious poke, kneading at the skin just under the redness and tracing up until it began to hit the sore spots. 

Wincing he took his hand away. It was healing, slowly. At least it wasn’t another scar. He had plenty of those to go around. His eyes moved over his stomach, his most recent addition to his collection.  

A bum hooked on red ice had fought back when he’d gone to arrest him a few months back, he’d managed to dodge the pocket knife he’d sprung on him for the most part, just a little too slow when he’d gone to grab his wrists. The swipe the guy had managed to get across his hip wasn’t too bad, he barely felt it at the time and couple of stiches at Tina’s had fixed him up pretty fine, but it left a decent mark. 

Gavin traced the scar lightly, still a little raised but that would fade in time, wouldn’t last more than a few years at most before it would fade completely. Not the like the ones on his face, although most of those had begun to vanish, he’d probably always have the long line across his nose forever. 

He was too busy looking it over that he didn’t hear Richard walk in behind him, wasn’t until he caught the shadow of him in his peripheral that he realized he’d been standing in the doorway. He looked back over his shoulder as the android watched him, how long had he been standing there? 

 

Richard was aware he was probably staring, this wasn’t the first time he’d seen Gavin without a shirt but it was the first time he’d had the chance to really look at him, and his basic scan had brought up a number of concerning notes on the damage to his skin.  

Gavin was littered with scars, some small, some not so. There was a handful across his back, small lines scattered in a cluster. One over his side, starting just above his hip moving across to the pit of his stomach. One over his shoulder, a gunshot wound that looked a little tender even now, though he could see it was years old. He marked the knife wounds, bullet wounds and even noticed that there was a small shard of glass still in Gavin’s shoulder, healed over long ago. 

He’d tracked them all back to different reports.  

A hostage negotiation ended wrong and that had left Gavin with a bullet just under his collarbone, it had gone straight through. 

An arrest of a red ice dealer had turned nasty giving Gavin the scar over his hip. 

A bomb had been detonated in a small store by one of the city's many drug lords - a warning for the Detroit police to stay out of their business - Gavin had thrown himself over the store owner and it had left him with the lines scattered across his back. 

He’d been hit by a car. Involved in a collision that had led to a patrol car rolling at 50mph. Shot at multiple times. Stabbed multiple times. Beaten with a bat.  

The list went on and on. 

Richard stared at him in awe. How the hell was this walking disaster still alive? 

 

Gavin huffed as he was watched; scanned and analysed no doubt. But there was something off about Richard’s face. He seemed... concerned. Gavin watched as the LED at his temple circled yellow as he was being checked over, he’d seen the colour change before as he processed his thoughts, literally. But with every other rotation, the yellow slipped into a circle of red before flickering back. 

That meant something bad right? He’d seen Connor react to all kinds of shit, and if it fucked him up, scared him or worried him, he’d show red. It meant Richard was actually thinking something, not just running a program, right? 

Even after their talk, there was still a lot he didn't know. Things he didn't fully grasp.

Gavin thought about what to say to break the tension, pull him out of his head as it clearly wasn’t doing him any good. Something light. Casual. A joke. Something nice, maybe? 

“You should take a picture it’ll last longer.” For fucks sake, Gavin.  

He scolded himself in his head, lip curling as he cursed himself out. Well, even if it was a shit move, it worked. Richard blinked before giving him a small smirk. “Noted.” 

Gavin sighed and looked over his shoulder at the other again, who had made no move to enter the room even if he’d been looking into it for however long. 

“Thank you,” He tried quietly, turning back and nodding at the other in the mirror. “I don’t think I’ve said that to you yet.” 

Richard simply nodded back once. “Of course.” 

“And you could just ask you know?” he tried again, turning slightly to face the other as he frowned back at him. Gavin vaguely waved a hand at himself. “About the scars?” 

“Oh,” Was the confused response. “I didn’t think it would be welcome.” 

Gavin scoffed. “Well, there’s a time and a place yeah. But you were obviously running some kind of ‘assess the shit out of me’ program so,” he gave the other a pointed look. “Next time, just ask.” 

“There won’t be a next time.” Well that was aggressive. Gavin pulled a face at the other and the RK sternly stared him down. “I have made note to be sure that you are no longer injured in duty.” 

Gavin let out a sharp laugh and shook his head at him. “You can’t do that.” 

“Yes, I can.” Came the practically automated response. Gavin gave a quick, rushed sigh before shaking his head. 

“Yeah, well of course you can. You can run every program you have, and create a list of probability all you want, but in the end, you have to realize; this,” Gavin pointed at himself. “Humans, are unpredictable. They do what the fuck they want and half the time, they do it without reason.”  

Richard looked him over and Gavin gave him a small but smug smile, he seemed proud of himself. 

“You androids don’t get it, well some of the deviant ones might, but... humans are spontaneous. Half the shit we do are things without thinking.” 

His tone was light, but Richard’s frown deepened and he shook his head. 

“Isn’t that... incredibly frustrating?” 

Gavin shrugged at him. “It’s the way we live. You can say ‘You won't get hurt again, not on my watch’ but it means nothing.” Gavin gestured at his scars with a pointed finger. “All this, it’ll happen again. Because you can’t know what someone is going to do when they’re scared or hurt or angry. Sometimes they come peacefully, sometimes they try to blow your head off.” 

Gavin turned back the mirror and looked himself over once more. Richard stood in the doorway still, LED running yellow as he seemed to try and take in what Gavin was trying to point out. 

“I don’t want you to get hurt.” It was quiet, a mumbled self-admission, and Gavin wasn’t entirely sure if he was supposed to have heard the quiet revelation until he looked back at Richard and he was looking right at him determinedly. 

Gavin looked down at his shirt in his hands and sighed, fingers aimlessly fidgeting with it as he watched the reflection of the other standing behind him. 

Fuck it. 

“When I was thirteen, me and my brother used to go to this field. It was like a mile walk and when you’re a kid it’s like walking from one end of the state to the other.” Gavin started cautiously, watching Richard shift in the doorway, he guessed in an attempt to make it seem like he was listening. “But there was this river running through it, a small one, like maybe a few feet wide. I always said one day I’d try and jump it but I never did.” 

He looked over his shoulder briefly and noted that Richard was watching him, but unmoving.  

“There was this giant oak tree, the thing was huge and old and it had this tire swing that hung over the river from one of its branches. Elijah was terrified of it, said it was the stupidest idea he’d ever seen put into play” Gavin chuckled lightly to himself at the memory before shaking his head. “Anyway, I used to climb it - the tree - and sit on the branch that hung out over the river.” 

Gavin smiled to himself. “It was amazing, being up that high and being _scared_ that I would fall into the river.” 

“Sounds like fun.” Richard uttered sarcastically as he commented for the first time, and Gavin huffed a laugh at him. 

“Yeah, you wouldn’t understand but it was. There was this point, where if you were up there when the sun set, it looked like you could see the end of the earth. I used to tell my brother it was like watching the sun fall off the edge of the world.” 

Elijah always made fun of him for that, said it was stupid and sappy. Gavin always knew that if he ever had the balls to actually climb the tree himself and see it, he wouldn’t be so smug about it. 

“Anyway, one day I was watching it, and the branch snapped.” Gavin turned to face the other. “I fell fifteen feet, hit three branches, and landed face first in the river.” He pointed at his face. “Broke my nose on a rock at the bottom, completely split my face open. I’ve never heard Elijah scream as loud as he did that day.” 

Gavin laughed and shook his head. “Some guy walking his dog pulled me out, said I was lucky. Broke my arm in two places, dislocated my shoulder, cracked my collar bone, chipped my cheek bone, cracked my eye socket, and broke the _shit_ out of my nose.” 

Richard’s eyes were wide as Gavin listed everything off on his fingers, he chuckled as he watched the mix of shock and horror wash over his face. 

“Yeah, it sucked, but I got a couple of months off school and my mom made Elijah wait hand and foot on me for ‘not looking after me good enough’ when it happened. Probably the best summer of my life.” 

“You could have died.” Richard retorted, clearly not as amused by the story as Gavin was. 

“I know,” Gavin smiled back with a shake of his head. “But I _didn’t_ and you know what, I’d have done it again.” 

Richard stood staring at him, face a wash with confusion and frustration as Gavin simply smiled at him. Gavin noted his LED was doing the same shit as before, streaming yellow and flashing red over and over. RK opened his mouth before snapping it shut with a shake of his head, whatever he was about to say was lost. 

“Why?” Was all he managed to come up with instead and Gavin gave him a small laugh. 

“Because it was worth it.” He shrugged. “It was fucking awful and it hurt like hell, and now I look like this,” He pointed up at his nose. “For the rest of my life. But that feeling? I’ll never have that again. I missed it.” 

“The concept of your mortality scares me.” Richard simply frowned at him and Gavin rolled his eyes and waved him off before going back to the mirror to poke at his bruises. 

“You wouldn’t understand. But the point is; shit happens, let it go.” 

Richard moved behind him and Gavin looked up to see he’d moved to stand maybe a foot away from him, he turned to face him properly and Richard looked him over. Gavin had to urge to pull his shirt up and cover his chest like an old-fashioned housewife who’d been caught stepping out of the shower. The sudden wave of self-consciousness flooded him as he was intensely examined by the other. 

“The fuck are you doing?” 

“You can’t tell.” Wow, mightily helpful there Robocop. 

“Can’t tell what?” Gavin huffed out. 

“That you’re as damaged as you are.” 

Gavin’s stomach dropped. 

What. The. Fuck.  

Okay. Fucking woah. Calling him Damaged? Like Gavin needed to be scanned and observed to see how fucked up he was. He’d had a tough life. He was a cop for fucks sake, and he wasn’t made of fucking plastic. He took his lumps and he was proud them. 

He was trying to be nice? And Richard had just, probably, saved his life, but now he was pulling this shit. Gavin knew he was damaged, he didn’t need his fucking perfect plastic replacement mocking him for it. 

He almost said that, but he realised that he probably wasn’t going to be able to spit that out without tripping up on his words, so he settled for something less clever. 

Gavin’s lip curled a little as he held himself back from lashing out. 

“What?” he hissed, Richard met his heated stare with one of true concern. 

“You’re a little broken on the inside.” Gavin felt the need to down a case of painkillers with a bottle of rum “But, no one can tell. Even I can’t see the full extent of your damage.” 

Gavin felt like shit. He’d had the crap beat out of him two days ago and now this, his fucking _partner_ telling him he was fucked up? After he’d stuck around, slept in his fucking bed, and made him food. Like he needed kicking when he was down. 

“I can see the scars on the surface,” Richard held up his hand towards Gavin, as if he were about to begin tracing them with his own fingers. Gavin watched his hand with his jaw locked, teeth grinding against one another - if he so much as touched him, he was sure he was going to rip his fucking hand off. “But a lot have faded, and the rest I will never know until you tell me about them.” 

Gavin’s eyes followed his hand as Richard moved down and let his hand hover over the angry bruising on his chest. “And now, I’ve helped add to the damage.” His fingers drew closer, maybe centimetres away from the skin, and suddenly Gavin couldn’t breathe.  

He managed to draw his eyes away from the hand, to look him in the face to find that he was staring down much in the same way. Gavin searched his face, the LED on his temple a bold red, unchanging as he looked at the bruises. 

Wait a fucking minute. 

Gavin’s anger began to seep away slowly, the startling realization hitting him. It wasn’t so much as a sly dig, as an assessment. And yeah, he was right. Gavin _was_ a little damaged. The more he thought about it, the more he actually understood. 

‘I don’t want you to get hurt’ ‘... you are no longer injured in duty’ ‘The concept of your mortality scares me’ 

Damaged meant something else to him, didn’t it? Did Richard think he was hurt because of him? Did he think this was his fault? Was he... afraid? 

“This isn’t your fault.” Gavin stated cautiously as he watched him. “You know that... right?” 

“You’re wrong.”

Well shit, there it was.

Gavin shook his head lightly. “No, I’m not.” He replied pointedly.

Gavin watched as Richard made a face at his hand, he watched as fingers twitched where they hovered before curling and he pulled his hand back. Gavin moved and grabbed his wrist, Richard’s attention jerked back to him as his head snapped up.  

“I should have stopped them. I _could_ have stopped them... I let you down.” They were locked in a heated gaze before Richard shook his head gently, brow furrowing slightly. “I’m supposed to protect you.” 

Gavin shook his head with a frown of his own. “No Rich, you’re my partner. You have my back but you can’t stop me from getting hurt.” Gavin gave his wrist a small tug and slowly Richard allowed him to bring his hand back to where it had been, fingers unclenched slowly and Gavin swallowed a little thickly as he placed his open palm against his stomach, just at the bottom of his wounds reach. 

“I’m okay, I don’t _blame_ you and I’m not mad about it.” he offered earnestly as Richard seemed to be frozen. “See, no big deal, right?” Gavin took his own hand away and began messing  absentlywith his shirt again as he tried to think of something idle to do with his hands. “I’m still here, you did your job.” 

His hand was warm against his skin as Richard moved his fingers over Gavin’s waist, he didn’t really know what he’d expected but he followed every touch of his fingers without ever looking down.  

It startled him, a little more than a lot, at how much he could feel from the other, trying to pin down the twisting in his stomach that was sending goose bumps across his skin. 

Shit, Gavin how touch starved are you? Get a grip.  

Richard’s thumb brushed over a tender spot and Gavin tried to hold back a flinch, his body moving away on instinct before he could properly catch it. Richard glanced up at him as he moved and Gavin shook his head lightly, wordlessly letting him know it was okay. Fingers traced the outline of the bruising, making a stop to press down a small amount of pressure at his ribs. “Does it hurt still?” 

Gavin shook his head again. “They’re not broken.” 

“That’s not what I asked.” Their eyes met and Gavin paused for a moment before nodding. 

“Yeah, but I can take it.” 

His fingers moved over the bruise, hovering gently over the centre where it looked the angriest. Little spattering's of broken blood vessels were scattered through the bright purple mess. Gavin couldn’t hold back the wince as he pressed a little too much, hand coming up to grab the others wrist. Richard’s fingers curled back a little, clipped and tidy nails scratched lightly over his skin and Gavin had to fight down the urge to press Richard’s hand back against him. 

“Sorry.” He murmured and Gavin made a small noise. 

“No, it’s okay.” Richard’s eyes shifted and he looked over Gavin’s chest, finding new scars, ones he couldn’t explain with a simple records check. Gavin noticed easily and he let go of his wrist, following his eyes to meet them.  

Gavin searched his face for a moment, a hint of curiosity sitting comfortably behind Richard’s eyes, a look he seemed to wear more often around him now.  

“Can I?” Richard asked finally, not entirely sure what he was asking but it didn’t matter, Gavin nodded and he moved his hand back across Gavin’s hip. For a brief moment Gavin thought he was going to kiss him as he stepped forward bringing them closer together, but then he felt the gentle pressure of Richard moving him and he began to creep backwards. 

Richard moved them slowly, guiding him back against the counter until the cold counter top touched Gavin’s lower back. “I thought you’d appreciate having something to lean on. You seem slightly uncomfortable.” 

“Not used to being treated nicely.” Gavin smiled softly at him and Richard felt a rush of protective energy flood his system.  

He would change that. 

His fingers brushed across his skin and Gavin moved to lean back against the counter, hand coming up to rest on the edge of the sink. He traced a line running down over his right collarbone and Gavin had to clear his throat to speak. 

“Tree fall.” He explained simply and the other hummed softly.  

Richard traced over every scar he could find and Gavin tried his best to explain them all. He stopped when he reached the bullet wound in his shoulder, the scar forming in a neat circle just above his right collarbone. He brushed his thumb over the mark and Gavin leant forward to turn slightly, showing him the exit wound, a much messier and angrier looking scar. 

“Hostage situation. Was all fine until we went to get the last guy out. Dude decided that he wasn’t going to come easily, having nothing to lose makes people stupid.” Gavin spoke quietly as Richard smoothed his fingers over it. “Guy took a lucky shot, went straight through my vest. Hurt like hell.” 

“It hasn’t healed properly.” Richard noted and Gavin let out a small laugh. 

“Yeah, first time I’d been shot. Didn’t understand the importance of bedrest. Ended up reopening it a couple of times.” 

Gavin settled back against the counter and Richard moved his hand up to Gavin’s jaw, fingers resting gently against it. He looked to be thinking about something, trying to decide if he could move or not. His eyes flicked across the bridge of his nose and Gavin watched him for a moment before nodding once. 

Richard brought his hand up slowly, Gavin had to shut his eyes from going cross-eyed as a thumb brushed across it gently, moving down to settle at its end on his cheek. 

Gavin’s eyes flickered open and he met the other eye to eye. He seemed to be searching for something, LED spinning a steady yellow as he blinked back lazily at him. Gavin wasn’t used to the scrutiny of this kind of gaze, the kind of look you give someone you care about, the kind of look Tina gave him the first time he’d told her about his past, his family. 

Empathy. Maybe even compassion. Far too kind for Gavin’s liking. 

Not the kind of look he deserved. 

He looked away, hand sliding away from his cheek and he saw Richard pull his arm down as he moved away, taking a small step back. Gavin sighed and turned to face the mirror again, the touch lingering against his skin. 

“I... Thank you.” Richard spoke softly behind him. “I should be returning to the station, now you’re on your feet again I’m sure you won’t need my help.” 

Gavin watched him turn and leave through the mirror, he let out a heavy sigh as he was finally left alone, looking up at his reflection he recalled Richard’s face as he’d traced the lines all across it.  

Be nice. Be friendly. Look where that had landed him. “Fuck.” 

Gavin moved quickly out of his bathroom and caught the other just before he reached the door. 

“Hey,” Richard turned to look at him, hand hovering over the door handle. “You should stay... We can watch some more movies.” 

Richard nodded at him, hand dropping to his side. “If you’d like.” 

“Well you know, I need someone to be in charge of the DVD changing.” Gavin waved a hand down at himself. “Still not really bending well in the middle.” 

Richard gave him an amused smile, shrugging his jacket off and hanging it up. Gavin tried to ignore the fluttering feeling - one he was getting far too often now - it gave him to see them hung next to each other.  


	4. The Start Of Something

April. 25th. 2039 

“Are you sure about this detective?” 

It was the third time he’d asked since they had set off from Gavin’s apartment. Gavin still had a day left of his leave, but he was sick of being stuck at home. He was bored, and there was only so many times he could sit and watch movies before he became restless. 

“Yes, I’m fine. And besides, I’ve no doubt you’ll be monitoring me all damn day, so I’m sure if I start to feel like shit, you’ll be the first to know.” Gavin sent him a quick glance and Richard simply stared ahead. 

Gavin sighed and tried to keep his attention on the road. “Look, if I feel like I need a break, I’ll take one, okay?” 

“Better.” Richard replied and Gavin looked over to see him wearing a small smile. 

“Prick. I’m not taking a fucking time out like a five-year-old, alright? This isn’t the first time I’ve had my ass kicked, so stop playing mother superior, and let me do my job.” 

“After counting the scars on your torso alone, I’m fully aware this is a regular occurrence.”  

Gavin rolled his eyes at that admission. “I can take care of myself.” 

“Not always.” Richard argued and Gavin shot him a sideways glance. 

“Shut up. We need this break okay; this case has gone nowhere in almost three months and I’m not sitting on this because I took a few punches. We need this.” 

Richard turned to look at him. “You could have stayed home, I can look into this myself while you rest.” 

“No way,” Gavin shook his head. “They made it personal the second they took me, I wanna be there for this.” 

“It’s personal for me too, you know?” Richard stated quietly, Gavin spared him a quick glance only to find him staring out the window.  

Gavin cleared his throat and turned his attention back to the road. “I know. All the more reason to have me there, right? Wouldn’t want you breaking anyone's necks in my honour without me being there to see it.” 

In the reflection of the window, Gavin saw Richard give a small smile. 

“I guess you’re right. Revenge is more fun with a willing audience.” 

“You’re damn right it is.” 

 

Gavin watched as Richard interrogated the third perp that morning. In total, four people had been arrested at the site. The two who had actually laid hands on him and two guys in the background, they had put up a fight when the DPD had come bursting in, leaving one of them in the hospital. 

The three others had been taken to the station and left in holding. Unfortunately, as usual; no one came for them. No one met bail and they were just... left. The apartment they had been working from had been watched since the bust and it had been left abandoned, no one had been near it since the door was blown through. 

Gavin knew no one would go back, it was always the same. They’d make a bust and whoever was running the grand scheme erased them from their list, as if they were never a part of it all.  

No protection, no more assistance, nothing. They were left to rot. In turn, it left them with nothing. No leads, no information.  

It was the perfect operation. 

Gavin was snapped out of his head as he heard a familiar, somewhat haunting laugh cut over the speaker. He stared into the room and saw his attacker laughing in Richard’s face. 

“He was an easy break, couple of hits and the guy was on the floor.” Gavin grit his teeth, he was talking about him, obviously, laughing about kicking the shit out of him. “Didn’t even put up a fight, you should have seen him.  _Pathetic_.” 

Chris looked up at him from his chair but Gavin shook his head at him, hand raising slightly from where it sat over his crossed arms, eyes still cast upon the two in the room before him. 

“You know, I think he  _wanted_  it. I think he  _liked_ it.” The perp laughed and Gavin had to take a deep breath, eyes settling closed as he steeled himself against the noise. Mostly to stop himself from bursting into the room and putting one right between the guys eyes. “He talked about you, you know. His robo-partner.” 

Gavin’s eyes snapped open and his eyes locked onto Richard through the glass. It wasn’t a lie, Gavin had warned the guy about him between beatings, told him he’d be sorry when Richard showed up. 

“He spat your name through his own blood with such  _conviction_ , so  _sure_ you’d come and get him. You know, I think he likes you.” The guy laughed again and Gavin could feel his nails digging into his arms, through the leather of his sleeves. “You let him down you know? We kept him there for hours, beat on him every hour until we thought he was gunna croak. Where were you, tin can? Huh?” 

Gavin watched Richard’s fingers twitch against the table. It was slight, quick, and Gavin was sure that no one would have noticed the subtle loss of demeanour.  

Richard was otherwise stoic, whole body straight and posed, hands resting on the table as the perp rattled on almost gleefully before him. Face blank with no emotion, almost eerily as he listened, even the light at his temple remaining a steady swirl of blue. 

“He could have died? We  _were_ gunna kill him, and you were almost too late.” Gavin blinked at the perp through the glass. This, he didn’t know. The guy ducked forward a little and gave Richard a shrug. “You know our boss isn’t coming to help us? He said ‘If we get caught, we’re on our own’. So, I’ve got nothing to lose here today.” 

The guy reached forward across the table and Gavin saw Richard visibly stiffen in his seat. 

“You wanna know how we are going to do it? We weren’t told to kill him you know, we  _wanted_ to. Fuckboy cop with an attitude falls into your lap, you don’t get chances like that every day, you know?” The guy smiled, cracked blackening teeth bared at Richard, eyes crinkling as he beamed across at him. “Do you know how much it takes to break a guy's ribs? Coz we were gunna find out. We were gunna break every single one, see if we could puncture his lungs and leave him, until he choked on his own breath and blood.” 

Gavin put a hand to his side before he would even think about it, sudden awareness of his own vulnerability becoming all too present as he watched his tormentor smile away from behind the glass. He didn’t want to listen to this shit anymore.  

Gavin turned and left the room quickly without a word. He could feel Chris’s eyes following him as he walked out, but paid no notice, even the nagging in the back of his head that he had something to prove didn’t stop him until he reached the kitchen, making a b-line for the coffee machine. 

He reached for the pot and his hand froze in mid-air; he was shaking. Gavin looked down at his own fingers with a bitter wonder, watching them tremble without his control. Taking a deep breath, he curled his fingers back, pulling his hand down and resting his fist against the counter. 

This was new. Perps talked shit all the time, it never bothered him before. 

He was probably bullshitting anyway, just a way to stall and waste time, get the last laugh. But still, it sat funny with him, something about the way he sold it got under his skin, in his head.  

Gavin believed it. He honestly believed they were going to kill him.  

For some reason, this time, it bothered him.  

“Are you alright, detective?” Gavin’s head shot up as he looked across the breakroom to see Richard standing by the wall. Gavin sighed out an unsteady breath and ran his still shaking hand through his hair, lightly tugging at the strands at the top of his head before dropping it back to his side. 

“Not really.” he shook his head and Richard walked to stand by his side. “I don’t know, shit like that’s never gotten to me before, must be tired.” 

It was a sorry joke and the half smile he tried to pull in its wake obviously didn’t hit the mark as Richard gave him a look of concern. 

“He was useless anyway, don’t let it bother you.” he tried to comfort but Gavin only pulled a face at the omission. It wasn’t the point. It did bother him. 

“Was he lying?” Gavin asked a little quickly, voice wavering slightly at the end, catching the other off guard. Richard stared blankly at him for a second before answering. 

“I’m sorry?” 

“Was he lying?” Gavin asked again, forcing his voice to steady, fingers beginning to twitch nervously at his side. “About killing me, was he telling the truth?” 

Richard watched him for a moment, searching his face, before nodding lightly. “Yes. He was being truthful.” 

Gavin let out a shaky breath and his hand raised again to tangle in his hair. He shook his head absently and his hand fell from his hair to the counter.  

“Fuck.” he hissed out in a rush, somewhat in disbelief. 

“I’d never let that happen.” Richard declared suddenly and Gavin’s attention snapped to him, his face was a picture of stone, steady and certain, as he looked back at him.  

“I’ve told you this before, you can’t  _predict_ people.” Gavin snapped back and Richard’s brow furrowed. 

“I can.” Richard pushed and Gavin let out a rushed breath in frustration. 

“Oh yeah, then how’d they get me in the first place?” Richard blinked, whatever determination he had falling as quickly as it had come as Gavin stared him down. “You’re such a good robot, then how’d he manage to get me? You were there, why didn’t you stop them?” 

“I-” Richard started but Gavin cut him off with a wave of his hand, pointing a finger to Richard’s chest. 

“You failed.” Gavin barked, aware he was raising his voice but it didn’t stop him. “You couldn’t  _predict_ them taking me and I could have  _died_. Don’t tell me you can protect me, when you can’t.” 

Richard stared at him eyes wide, mouth falling open in surprise. The flickering of yellow to red caught the corner of his eye and Gavin blinked back at him as his words filtered back through the air. The two stared at each other and Gavin took in Richard’s face. For once, Gavin saw something he’d never seen on him before. 

Richard looked fucking devastated. 

Gavin blinked quickly and cast his eyes back to the counter, idly moving back, waving his hand absently between them and giving the other a dismissive shake of his head. “Shit, sorry. That... that wasn’t right-” 

“No.” Richard stopped his apology short. Gavin swallowed the lump rising in his throat as he glanced back at him. “You’re right. I let you down.” 

“No, no you didn’t.” Gavin sighed and ran a hand over his face, eyes casting up before closing them with a duck of his head. “I’m... freaked out over nothing and I’m taking it out on you... you didn’t deserve that.” 

Richard said nothing in return, going quiet for a moment before casting a glance to the coffee pot in front of Gavin before nodding between the two of them. “I can make you coffee?” 

It was a peace offer, Gavin knew it. One he didn't need to give but Gavin knew he’d dug himself into a hole. He knew it wasn’t Richard’s fault, he knew he shouldn’t have said that it was and he wanted to take it back, but he knew his attempt at making it better would fall of deaf ears, not to mention he’d probably fuck it up anyway. 

So, he simply nodded and took a small step back, letting Richard take his place and begin to make him a coffee. Gavin watched as he worked carefully, both standing in silence as it brewed and boiled before them. Richard poured him a cup and turned to hand it to him carefully, Gavin paused as he took the handle and make a point of looking the other in the eye. 

“I believe you.” he stated and Richard gave him a small frown. 

“Believe what?” 

Gavin swallowed thickly and fought the nagging urge to let it go and turn away. “You’re a good partner, I know you’ve got my back, even if I’m being an asshole about it.” 

Richard searched his face for a moment, eyes flicking over his features as he took in what he’d said. “You’re not lying.”  

Gavin let out a soft snort and shook his head. “No. I’m not.” 

Richard paused again, looking him over before a small but sincere smile pulled at the corners of his mouth. “Thank you.” 

Gavin nodded and Richard released his hold on the cup, Gavin tried not to focus on the lingering touch as their fingers brushed over. He gave Richard a small smile of his own before leaning back against the counter and settling into his coffee. 

 

April. 26th. 2039 

The realization hit him like a truck the next night. And in his mild panic, he did what any sane man would do in the middle of the night. 

“Tina  _help_.”  

He was trying to keep his voice down without making it obvious and disturbing the sleeping android next to him in the bed.  

Yup, Richard was laid on his side, back to Gavin. Sleeping. In his bed, next to him. Under the fucking covers, wearing nothing but Gavin’s old PJ bottoms, fucking shirtless and everything.  

Oh yeah, he was suddenly in deep and he had forgotten how to swim. 

There was a groan on the other end of the line. “ _Gavin, it’s three am_ _,_ _for fuck sake._ ” 

“I have a problem.” Gavin rushed out and Tina sighed at him. 

“ _Isn’t Richard there?_ ” 

Gavin shot a glance down at the other.  

“That’s the problem.” 

Tina let out a tired groan. “ _Gavin, for fucks sake, what now? I thought you two were getting along?_ ” 

“We are... that’s... part of the problem.” Gavin sighed and ran a hand over his face. “I think... I might be... I have a problem.” 

He wasn’t freaking out. 

There was a pause and Gavin swore he could hear himself blinking. “ _Goodnight, Gavin._ ” 

“No!” Gavin hissed and mentally scolded himself for being so damn loud. “No, don’t hang up.” 

“ _Gavin, I’m going to come over and put a bullet between your eyes if you don’t let me sleep._ ” 

“Please, five more minutes?” Gavin’s fingers twitched nervously as he heard Tina sigh down the line. 

“ _Five minutes, go._ ” 

Gavin swallowed loudly. “...I like Rich.” 

“ _Yeah, so?_ ” 

Gavin blinked into the darkness of his room. “What do you mean ‘so’?” 

“ _Gavi_ _n._ _H_ _e’s tall, grumpy and handsome. He’s got stupid hair and terrible sense of humour and he looks good in skinny jeans._ ” 

Gavin stared blankly ahead. “...What are you saying?” 

“ _I’m saying_ _,_ _you called me up at three am to have a god damn gay panic, which by the way I thought we were long since passed, and tell me something I already know_ _!_ ” 

Gavin shook his head, mostly to himself because he knew she couldn’t see, but he felt like he needed to do it. 

“...So, what are you saying?” 

“ _Gavin!_ ” He had to pull the phone back from his head as she yelled at him, shooting a quick look at Richard, making sure he hadn’t moved. “ _It_ _i_ _s_ _._ _T_ _hree_ _._ _A. M_ _._ _And_ _I am tired and I have to be up at seven. Just sack the fuck up and ask him out._ ” 

“I can’t.” 

“ _Bitch, why?_ ” 

“Because...” Okay, he had like three seconds to come up with something good or else Tina was going to hurt him, he knew it. “...Because I’m scared?” 

“ _You’ve never been scared of a dick, don’t be lying to me at this ungodly hour._ ” 

“Because... “ 

“ _Because nothing, you like him and he’s good to you. And from what you’ve told me, you two have been dating for weeks now so just be real boy, and ask him out._ ” 

Gavin sputtered in the darkness. “It’s not dating!” 

“ _You’ve been watching movies together! At your house! For fuck sake Gavin, he’s stayed over at your place now for_ _five_ _days in a row!_ ” 

“I was kidnapped and tortured, he’s looking out for me!”  

“ _He bought you a new phone._ ” 

“With my own money.” 

“ _He went shopping for you and your dumb, nameless cat._ ” 

“I needed more meds picking up anyway.” 

There was a pause. Gavin felt true fear. 

“ _He’s sleeping next to you isn’t he._ ” 

Gavin looked to the side and winced in defeat. “A little.” 

There was another pause. 

“ _Goodnight, Gavin._ ” 

“No no no!” The call disconnected and Gavin let out the quietist frustrated noise he could, shaking his phone in his hand. “Such a bad friend.” 

 

April. 28th. 2039 

So, Gavin was avoiding Richard. 

Quite obviously. He didn’t care. 

He’d gone to work a day after his very not helpful call with Tina as if everything was totally normal and was now sitting at his desk, working. Working very hard so Richard wouldn’t have anything to say to him.  

His head was down, he was sat in his chair properly and he hadn't once put his feet up on his desk. His phone was on silent on the desk and he hadn't looked at it once, he’d even gotten his own coffee. Made a point of going to get it himself when Richard had walked away to grab their notes, instead of waiting until the android brought him one. 

It was a weird thing he’d gotten into. Richard bringing him coffee. He’d made a snide remark about the RK when they had first been put together about ‘if he wanted him to be productive, then keep him caffeinated’. Richard had obviously ignored the shit out of him, actually going out of his way to launch an empty cup at Gavin one day just to prove his point, and effectively scaring the living shit out of him. 

He was also like 90% sure Tina had taught him that signature move. 

But then, after the shooting, he’d come into work with coffee already on his desk. Fresh, hot and made just the way he liked it. He’d figured it was a peace offering and took it without comment, he wasn’t going to argue if Richard wanted to get him coffee. 

Then after that, coffee just... came to him.  

Richard would vanish for half an hour and return with a Starbucks, hand it to him and just carry on working without mentioning it. Or Gavin would get up to go piss and return to Richard, leaning on his desk, looking over his work with a coffee ready in hand. 

So, he just accepted it and it became their routine. Every now and again, Gavin would get up and walk around to shake out the ache from sitting around all day and Richard would take it as his cue to get coffee. 

It was... nice. 

Gavin had come to like it. He wanted to tell Richard that he didn’t have to, that it was a dick move and a joke to demand coffee from him and he didn’t have to, but Richard seemed to like the habit. It was the way they worked. 

“So,” Gavin didn’t jump, he did not, at the sound of Chris’s voice behind him. “What’s up with you today?” 

Gavin turned to look at him; sat on a slant in his chair, rolled a little closer to Gavin so he was at speaking distance. “Nothing.” 

“Nothing?” Chris replied sceptically, raising a brow at him. “So, you just  _feel_ like working for once?” 

“Yes.” Gavin grit his teeth. “Having the shit beat out of you and being bed ridden for a week will do that to you.” 

Chris hummed and moved to lean on his hand, eyeing Gavin up with a knowing look. 

“So, it has nothing to do with the fact that you’re in love with your android?” 

Gavin span around in his chair so fast is actually tipped a little on the wheels. 

“Shut the fuck up.” Gavin looked around them almost frantically. Richard was nowhere to be seen. Luckily. “And I am not.” 

Chris snorted and shook his head. “That’s not what Tina told me.” 

Bitch.  

“Bitch.” Gavin huffed and Chris pointed at him. 

“I took over her shift, made the mistake of asking her why she looked tired.” Chris chuckled and waved a hand at him. “She told me, in less than a few words, your ‘gay android crisis work her up’.” 

Gavin groaned and put his head in his hands, Chris moved and gave him a swat on the arm. “Don’t feel bad, someone has to be unlucky enough to put up with you.” 

“It’s not like that.” Gavin grumbled into his hands. 

Chris just laughed lightly and shook his head. “What’s the big deal? You’re not freaking out because he’s a machine, are you?” 

“No!” Gavin’s head snapped up before he looked around again and let out a long sigh. “No. I mean, it’s not like that. Or  _whatever_ Tina told you.” 

“So, what  _is_ it like?” Chris proposed and Gavin shook his head. 

“It’s just... It’s just  _not_ like that, okay? This isn’t about what he is, it’s about me.” Gavin screwed his face up. “I think.” 

“You think?” Chris was giving him a judging face again and Gavin didn’t like it. 

“Yes. Just... leave it alone, alright?” Chris raised a brow at him and Gavin sighed. “I’m working on it.” 

“Well maybe, and this is just a suggestion,” Christ held his hands out in a mock surrender. “Maybe, stop freaking out and just talk to him. It’s not like you’re a virgin at a school dance.” 

Gavin snorted and Chris waved a hand at him as he lowered them back to his lap. “You are an asshole, but you think too much. Just talk it out, like a grown up.” 

Gavin sighed and rolled his eyes at him as Chris laughed at him, again. “Yeah, thanks for the advice.” 

“Hey, you forget. Out of the three of us dysfunctional assholes, I’m the only one who actually has a partner.” Gavin had to agree with him there. “My advice is solid.” 

Maybe. Gavin turned back to his desk and looked over his terminal to where Richard should have been. He wasn’t some needy teenager, he didn’t want to talk about his feelings and shit. Besides, he’d had crushes before on officers who’d worked there. He’d just made a move. 

Simple. 

Although, they had all ended in a one-night stand and the claim of him not being boyfriend material. Which wasn’t wrong, nothing had changed there. 

But then again, Richard was the only one who had put up with him for almost four months. That was a first. Not to mention he was the first android that Gavin had actually grown to like. A lot had changed there. 

Gavin shook his head to clear his thoughts and set back to work. Maybe if he was lucky someone would get caught dealing in the next three hours and he’d have something to go out and do, and he wouldn’t be stuck in his own head all day. 

Yeah, Gavin wasn’t that lucky. 

 

Gavin shut down his terminal and stood from is desk, slipping his jacket from the chair and throwing it on as he watched the screen close down. 

Richard was gathering up their notes, some spewed across both their desks where they had been passing stuff back and forth. Gavin watched him tidy up. They’d talked, a little. Mostly about the case and what a dead end it was still and only in small bouts, but he hadn’t ignored him all day like he’d planned to. 

Wow. He was a dick. 

Richard hadn’t made a move to interact with him all shift. Only talking back when Gavin prompted him too by passing a sheet across or asking for some information. 

Yeah, Gavin was 90% sure Richard knew he was trying to avoid him. And it sucked. 

Gavin mulled over the thought, watching Richard stack the papers neatly before putting them back in their folder. 

“Hey,” Gavin called at him, Richard paused and looked up at him. “I’m sorry... about today.” 

Richard seemed confused as he straightened up and pushed the file to one side, ready for tomorrow. “Today?” 

Gavin sighed. “For being, like, out of it. Not talking to you.” 

“It’s okay.” Richard shrugged lightly in response. “I just figured you had taken a few too many painkillers.” 

He had actually forgotten to take any today, too wrapped up in his head to remember and by the time he had, it seemed pointless. His side ached like hell but he figured it wasn’t worth the time seen as he was about to go home and crash out. 

“Well, no. I just... I’ve got some stuff on my mind.” Gavin offered lamely and Richard tilted his head at him in question.  

“Could I help?”  

Gavin fought the urge to sigh. Yes. You probably could. 

“Probably not.” Gavin shrugged and ran a hand through his hair. “Probably just the painkillers like you said, whatever.” 

Gavin turned to leave, hand falling to his side as he made his way to the exit. 

“I’m here,” Gavin stopped and turned to look back. Richard was stood by his desk, face falling into its natural blank expression. “If you want to talk. I know you probably wouldn’t want to, with me at least.” Richard paused for a moment, brows furrowing slightly. “But I’m here. If you run out of options.” 

Gavin watched him for a moment before glancing back at the door. Maybe he should get out of his own ass and take someone’s advice for once. Might do him some good. 

“You... You want to come over again?” Gavin offered, ignoring the way his stomach flipped when Richard’s mouth quirked up a little. “There’s still some stuff you haven’t seen, and I’m not tired yet. Beats sitting alone, watching the cat lick himself.” 

Richard let out a small laugh before nodding and moving to follow him. Gavin walked to his car, lighting a smoke before they reached. He fished his keys out and gave them a look over before throwing them back to Richard, who actually seemed surprised, even if he caught them with ease. 

“You drive, just try to keep to the limit.” 

Richard offered him a smile. “I don’t know what you’re trying to say detective, I’m always a safe driver.” 

Gavin snorted, a cloud of smoke rushing from his lips and opened his door. “Yeah, and I’m the Queen of England.” 

“You did look ever so cute in that crown.” 

Gavin stared at him, cigarette almost falling from his hand. “When did you seen that!?” 

Richard gave him a smug smile, opening his door and looking across the roof at him. “I have my sources.” 

Richard slipped into the car and shut his door, Gavin let out a huff. 

“Tina.” 

 

Gavin and Richard were sat watching another movie, Gavin was still a little trapped in his head so he’d suggested that Richard pick their latest watch. They’d been sat quietly now for around twenty minutes, Belle had sung her song about the boring town and Gaston had made the show of himself, Gavin wasn’t really paying attention but he was following the story by what musical number they were up to. 

Richard was sat back next to him, Gavin figured that he’d picked up on the fact they were having a chill out moment and so he wasn’t doing his usual ‘analyse every detail’ thing that he liked to do.  

His side was still a little achy, the second he’d gotten through the door, Richard had followed him to the kitchen and insisted he’d take some painkillers. Gavin wasn’t impressed and he didn’t see the point, so instead he opted on grabbing a beer and waving it in Rickard’s face as he walked to the couch. 

So, they had sat down and Richard had put on a movie and they were just sat watching it in silence. Richard kept giving him a sideways glance and Gavin was pretending to ignore it; he wanted him to talk, Gavin had chickened out and wanted to leave it. 

It wasn’t until after the Beast was getting attacked by wolves that Richard seemed to find some courage and leaned forward in his seat to look at him. Gavin wondered how aggressively you can stare at a beer bottle before it explodes. 

“You seem just as distracted as before.” Richard supplied quietly and Gavin tried his best not to look at him. “I thought watching movies was relaxing?” 

“It’s not your problem, don’t worry about it.” Gavin took another drink of his beer. 

Richard seemed to look him over before leaning slightly forward in his seat. “I want to help.” 

“You are.” Gavin sighed and ran a hand through his hair, the motion was becoming a nervous tick at this point. “This, it helps. You can’t help what’s in my head.” 

Richard was staring at him and Gavin was debating whether or not to just straight up leave to room to avoid this moment. 

“Have I done something wrong?” Richard asked and Gavin frowned at him. 

“Why the hell do you think that?” 

Richard gave him a small tilt of his head. “I’ve stayed here, a few nights now. And now you seem to not want to talk to me, and when we do talk, you seem distracted. If I overstepped a boundry, I would like to know.” 

Gavin sighed again and shook his head. He turned in his seat, mirroring Richard and gestured at him weakly with his free hand. 

“You haven’t done anything. It’s not about you.” 

“You’re lying.” 

Gavin’s face fell as Richard paused, leaving him staring at the other with wide eyes. “What?” 

“You’re lying to me.” Richard stated, face blank as he looked Gavin over. “You know that I can tell when someone is lying and you are no different.” 

Gavin shook his head at him and tried again. “You haven’t done anything wrong. I’m not mad at you or anything, and I like having you around. I invited you back, didn’t I?” 

“But this  _is_ about me.” Richard pointed out and Gavin blinked back at him.  

How the hell was he going to get out of this one? Jumping off the balcony seemed a little too dramatic but he sure was thinking about making a break for it. Chris’s words ran through his head as he was stared down and he let out a sigh, fuck it. He couldn’t do worse by talking than actually running and jumping out of his own apartment window, could he? 

“I’m a mess. And I’m an asshole and I think too much.” Gavin started honestly, fingers twitching around his bottle balanced on his leg. “These past few days, it’s just been a lot.”  

Gavin ran a hand through his hair again, this time leaving his fingers tangled through it and rested his elbow against the back of the couch, propping his head up. “I’m not good at dealing with people who are nice to me, and you...” He offered Richard a small smile, who in turn shifted a little more to face him better. “You’re the worst for it sometimes.” 

Gavin tried to keep his eyes anywhere but at the others face. Richard was scanning him over, a thoughtful expression lacing his features as he looked at him. 

“Gavin, may I try something?” Richard asked and Gavin finally caught his gaze.  

“Try what?” 

Richard didn’t answer, instead he moved to sit closer, shuffling toward him until his and Gavin’s legs were pressed together. Gavin let him move without comment, simply watching him, waiting for a prompt. Richard rested back against the couch before lifting his arm over Gavin’s head and giving him a small wave.  

Gavin stared at him and Richard nodded at him. “I know you’re not one for affection but just, try it?” 

Gavin thought about saying something, making up something to reason that he couldn’t accept the others offer but his mind came up blank. In the corner of his eye he could see Something There begin to play out on the TV and he wondered if he could use it to get out of moving.  

That or just straight up jumping off the balcony. 

Richard seemed to notice his hesitation and his arm fell down a little, elbow coming to rest on the back of the couch next to Gavin’s own. “You don’t have to, just... let me, and if you don’t like it we can go back to this.” 

Gavin paused for thought before he looked him over again and moved forward, he slowly settled back against the couch, side touching Richard’s as he was ushered gently against him. Richard’s arm came down and rested around his shoulders. He felt tense for a moment but then, against his better nature, Gavin immediately began to settle into the embrace. 

It was new and it felt a little odd, almost uncomfortable to be so comfortable with the other. Gavin both knew and didn’t know how he felt. He liked this, he wanted this, but it wasn’t the same for Richard as it was for him right now. Gavin was taking something else from what he was offering and it felt almost unfair. 

“This is what you wanted?” Gavin tried to make light of the situation. “You just wanted to put your arm around me?” 

Richard let out a small chuckle and Gavin felt his side hum with the noise against him. 

“It seems to relax you. The other night, in bed,” Gavin swallowed thickly, in bed, together. Yeah, how could he forget. “When you fell asleep on my shoulder, I noticed it was the most peaceful you’d been for nights.” 

Gavin didn’t quite know what to do with that, so instead of trying to think of something witty, he simply took another drink of his beer. He could feel Richard’s eyes on him as he tried to place his attention back on the TV. 

“You were restless that night,” Richard continued, voice soft and quiet as his hand soothed across Gavin’s shoulder, Gavin followed it from the corner of his eye. “I felt you fall asleep against me, I was going to move you, but I didn’t want to wake you and so I tried my best to keep you still, it... felt good, to see you so calm.” 

Gavin felt his stomach twist again, the fondness he’d been trying to push down making its way back up and filling him with nerves. 

“You don’t have to look after me like I’m some kid.” He managed to bite out, tone not as heavy as he’d hoped, a subtle hint of want hiding beneath it all. 

“It’s not like that.” Richard sounded serious and Gavin paused a moment before tilting his head up a little to see him. Richard frowned down at him. “I want to take care of you, not just because I’m your partner... but because I want you to be happy.” 

Gavin turned away, looking back to the TV as Richard’s words span around in his head. His chest felt heavy with the admission. This was bad, Gavin was indulging in something he shouldn’t and it was only going to end badly. 

Gavin looked down to his lap, fingers twitching restlessly against the bottle between them. “Some people don’t deserve to be happy.”  

And there it was, how he really felt.  

Gavin knew it was probably the wrong thing to be spitting out, a little too heavy for the mood they’d fallen into, but it was the truth, and Gavin was never a tactful creature. 

Gavin had never been happy, not in a long time. Not since he could remember. Every time he had something good, it broke. The last good thing he found was Tina, he was still hoping to this day that she’d stick around, even with them being friends for over six years. The chance was always there. 

Gavin was a time bomb of ruin. Anything he held too tightly he lost. That’s why he lived here, in his rundown apartment, undecorated and barely furnished, usually littered with take-out boxes and home to a stray cat with no name and no bowl. He’d stuck to what he knew he could have. He wouldn’t reach higher than he could stand and most days, it wasn’t very high. 

He had no family. He had three friends, and he was sure they’d drop him if they ever really stopped to wonder why they liked him. He was unlikeable. Everyone he’d ever dated said he was undatable. Not boyfriend material. A mess. 

And that was the point of it. Richard didn’t deserve that. He didn’t deserve to be held down by Gavin, because that was all he would do. 

Gavin could offer him nothing. He was mean and bitter and... human.  

He’d grow old and even more a miserable man and Richard would be stuck with him. Forever perfect. Forever fit and smart and kind. Gavin would grow to exhaust him in time, drag him down, kill his passion. 

Gavin felt Richard shift beneath him and his stomach dropped. Well, this was it. They’d go back to making snide comments, no more coffee or movie nights. They’d be professional, Gavin would hate it but he’d suck it up. It’s what he did best. 

Gavin refused to look up as he felt eyes falling over him. 

“You really believe that.” It wasn’t a question. It was a statement and Gavin wanted more than anything to shove him away, pull himself from the couch and go hide in his room until he was left alone. He was better alone, you can’t fuck up alone. 

“Never really been proven wrong.” Gavin answered back, keeping his eyes cast down at his beer. 

On screen, Belle appeared in her yellow gown. Beast watched her from across the stairs. The slow harmony kicking into play as they approached each other. 

 _‘Tale as old as time_ _...’_  

Gavin felt his world falling apart as Richard moved beside him, plucking the beer from his hands carefully and placing it on the coffee table, hand firm but gentle keeping him in place as the arm wrapped around his shoulders fell to rest against his back. 

 _‘..._ _true as it can be._ _.._ _’_  

Richard looked him over, brow furrowing slightly, a flicker of concern, as he searched his face. Gavin tried not to squirm away under the scrutiny. 

“I will prove you wrong.” Gavin blinked back at him with widening eyes at the admission. 

 _‘Then somebody bends,_ _unexpectedly_ _...”_  

Richard’s hand raised, fingers resting on the edge of his jaw. Gavin’s lips parted on instinct as Richard soothed a thumb against the corner of his mouth. Gavin’s eyes slipped closed as Richard leaned forward slowly, bringing them together until Gavin would feel the rush of his words against his lips. 

“Tell me I’m wrong,” Richard whispered against his lips. “And I’ll stop.” 

 _‘Both a little scared, neither one prepared...’_  

Richard closed the space between them, bringing their lips together. Gavin leaned into it easily, hand coming up to rest against Richard’s hip as they kissed. It was gentle, slow and lazy with no heat behind it.  

Gavin had been kissed many times; all in the moment, rushed and messy. This wasn’t anything close to compare. 

Richard’s fingers held his jaw gently, the hand on his back holding him carefully as he thumbed small circles between his shoulder blades. It was sweet, no fumbling or rush of tongues, it was tender and maybe a little shy. 

Richard pulled back, just enough for their lips to part and Gavin followed him back without thinking. He felt the rush of air against his face as Richard let out a small laugh at the gesture. 

Gavin unsteadily blinked back at him, eyes lying half lidded as he gazed at the other. Richard traced the line of his jaw with his thumb and Gavin tracked the movement in his head, hoping to keep the feeling fresh forever in his mind. 

“Let me make you happy.” 

Richard’s words pulled him from his trance and Gavin blinked himself back to the present. This was what he wanted, wasn’t it? He wanted Richard to like him, and kiss him, and maybe even love him one day. But he couldn’t fight that sinking feeling, that twisting ache deep in his chest that flared up every time Richard gave him a kind glance. 

He didn’t deserve this. 

Gavin Reed was an asshole, and he wasn’t about to chain a good man to a sinking ship. 

“You should go.” 

Gavin wasn’t sure he’d even said it, a choked whisper he almost couldn’t bring himself to say. But Richard heard it, like he heard everything, and pulled back. His face was slack with shock, his mouth hanging open as he stared at Gavin, LED sparking a sharp red upon his temple. 

Gavin pulled away, slipping back against the couch and putting a distance between them as Richard shook his head dazed, fingers dragging along Gavin’s arm but making no move to latch on. He didn’t want to let him go, but he wasn’t going to fight.  

Too kind, Gavin noted. 

“I can’t... I can’t do this.” Gavin moved himself out of Richard’s reach. “You need to go.” 

“Gavin, I-” Richard started, eyes wide and almost pleading before Gavin cut him off. 

“Don’t. I just... can’t do this to you. I can’t... you’re not... I shouldn’t have let this get so far.” Gavin let out a defeated sigh and sank back into the couch as he tried his best not to look at the other. “You should go.” 

From the corner of his eye, Richard looked as if he were about to protest, before his mouth clicked shut and he stood slowly, eyes casting down as he rose to his feet in front of him. He nodded lightly before turning away and making his way to the door, grabbing his jacket from the hook and leaving Gavin alone. 

 _‘Tale_ _..._ _as old as time, song as old as rhyme._ _.._ _Beauty and the beast.’_  

 

May. 2nd. 2039 

Gavin stared down into his coffee as he half-heartedly stirred in the sugar. He’d barely slept all weekend, his head a mess. Every time he’d tried to close his eyes, he couldn’t stop seeing Richard’s face. How disappointed he’d been, how hurt. Gavin did that, he made him look like that. 

Unsurprisingly, he hadn’t heard from the other since he’d left Gavin’s apartment. Gavin had come to work tired and defeated, planning his day like some kind of military stealth mission, in hopes that he could avoid any awkward confrontation with Richard. 

He’d met an empty desk. Richard was nowhere to be seen and Gavin had spent his first hour of the day idly looking around, eyes half-heartedly searching the pen for any sign of him. There was none. 

Gavin wondered if Richard had enacted the same plan as he had done that morning, if he was anyhow, he was doing it a lot better than Gavin was. He didn’t know if that made him feel better or worse. 

It was awful, he felt awful. 

Gavin was so focused on watching the spoon spin in his fingers that he didn't notice Connor coming up behind him until it was too late. 

“What did you do.”  

“Jesus!” Gavin startled, hands flailing, almost knocking his coffee from the table and he scrambled to steady the tipping mug before it spilled over. “Fuck.” 

“What did you do.” It wasn’t a question. Connor’s face was dark, brows furrowed sharply on a face like fury. Gavin had seen that face before. 

“I didn’t do shit, alright,” he began defending himself, though he didn’t really feel like it was entirely justified. “So before you knock me the fuck out again, remember that.” Gavin huffed out, moving his coffee a little off to the side. 

Connor took a step forward and into his personal space, Gavin held up a hand; part in a last fleeting moment of defence, part in surrender. 

“I mean it,” he rushed out, hand waving a little. “I didn't do anything.” 

Gavin’s hand dropped and he turned his attention back to his coffee, moving it closer to him once more and continued to stir it. Connor looked less than impressed. 

“Do you think this is a joke?” Connor snapped, tone stern and serious, and Gavin turned to face him, hand gesturing up at his own face. 

“Oh yeah, big joke. Real funny. I haven’t stopped laughing all morning, see.” Connor moved to take another step forward and Gavin threw his hand up between them once more. “Woah, look. Just hit me or leave, alright? Stop doing the whole, big brother intimidation act and get it over with.” 

Connor looked him over, a look he was used to by now, a stare that said ‘I’m scanning the shit out of you for fuck knows what but I will find it’. Gavin waited as Connor seemingly glare-scanned him before his head tipped to the side slightly. 

“You’re exhausted.” Connor commented and Gavin shot him a disbelieving look. 

“That’s it? A shitty comment on my health, fuck. You’ve done worse to Anderson for sneaking a drink.” 

“Drink your coffee.” Connor moved smoothly to stand opposite him at the table and Gavin looked around and past himself, before shooting Connor a pointed look. 

“Excuse me?” 

“You heard me.” Connor placed his arms down on the table and linked his hands together, Gavin watched his every move carefully. Very fucking carefully. “Drink.” 

“I know it’s not  _physically_ possible, because I was stood  _right_ here,” Gavin pointed to his cup. “but did you put something in this?” 

Connor simply stared, brow still slightly furrowed but his expression was ultimately a lot tamer than it had previously been. Gavin didn’t know whether to run or just straight duck under the table and hope for the best. 

“I’m giving you the benefit of the doubt.” Connor stated and Gavin fought the urge to sigh. “Please don’t test my patience.” 

“I’m not  _testing_ anything, I mean it. I haven’t done anything.” Gavin stated, picking up his mug and taking a drink, not even bothering to pick out the spoon, even after it slid around the edge and rested against his cheek. 

“My brother is miserable.” So, Connor was now interrogating him, just great. Gavin wasn’t stupid, he knew that tone. “The last person he saw was you. So, I’m asking you again, detective. What did you do?” 

Gavin sighed and put his coffee back down on the table. This was not what he wanted to do today. He wanted to drink coffee - lots of coffee - smoke all the cigarettes he had left in his pocket, and maybe get some work done. 

 _This_ was not a part of his plan. 

But if Connor wanted the truth, who was he to hold it back. Also, he damn well knew that he was a stubborn fuck when he wanted to be, Anderson had taught him well. Although from what he could remember, Connor had always been a pain in the ass when it came to the things he wanted. 

Everyone in the office knew how little Connor had actually listened to Hank when they had first been paired up. Yeah, Connor was stubborn as all hell. And even Gavin was no match, he was only human after all, androids have a knack for outwaiting humans by a long shot. 

“You really want to know, nothing but the truth.” He’d started strong, but his tone faltered as the reminder of the night flashed through his memory. Gavin looked down at the table and shook his head lightly, voice going soft as he continued. “Richard kissed me the other night.” 

Connor was quiet and Gavin had to look up to make sure he was still there. Connor was staring at him. His eyes a little wide and he looked almost stunned at the admission. Gavin made a point of waving his hand in front of his face. 

“Hello? You listening? You wanted to know, so there.” Gavin held up a hand, eyes casting back down to his coffee with a light shake of his head. “It’s my fault and I shouldn’t have led him on, but I stopped him. He kissed me and I pushed him away, I told him to leave and we haven't spoken since.” 

Connor shook his head at him. “Why?” 

Gavin let out a huff, throwing a hand out and lifting his head to shoot the other a defeated glare. “Because he’s been conditioned to like me. My fucking brother told him to come over here and stick to my side like fucking glue, no wonder he thinks he should  _kiss_  me, fuck, I-” 

“No.” Connor cut him off, face steady and calm as he stared him down across the table. “Not ‘why did he kiss you’...” 

Gavin shook his head, confused. “Then what?” 

“... Why did you push him away?” 

Gavin’s head shot up in surprise, eyes locking with Connor’s as Connor stared back at him, sincere confusion lacing his features as he looked him over. Gavin blinked quickly and shook his head, casing is gaze once again back to his coffee in hand. 

“I don’t know, felt wrong, like I said I-” 

“You’re lying.” Connor cut him off and Gavin couldn’t stop his eyes rolling, throwing a hand flat against the table in protest and pointing to him. 

“Would you fucking androids stop doing that shit? It’s invasive and just wrong, alright.” Gavin sighed and ran his hand across his face. “And yes, I’m fucking lying, you happy?” 

“No?” Connor seemed lost and Gavin felt himself giving in, fucking Connor and his fucking stupid face, no wonder Anderson never got anything done. God, he missed the days when he could be a miserable fuck in peace. 

“He shouldn’t like me, okay? I’m a dick and he doesn’t know any better, he’s spent most of his time with me.” Gavin sighed and gestured at the doorway. “I mean come on, you really believe that we’re a good match? He’s Mr fucking perfect and I’m... well I’m sure you’ve got  _plenty_  of names for me.” 

Gavin shook his head down at his coffee. “He deserves better. You know it and I know it, he’s....” 

Gavin stopped himself, trailing off as he began to think of all the ways Richard was better than him. All the ways he could do better than him. The human element was just the tip of the ice burg, Richard should be with someone who gave a shit about him, not just personality but everything, innerworkings down to the smallest wire and program. Gavin wasn’t good with any of that, probably never would be. 

Connor stood straight and Gavin made an effort to ignore him as he walked around the table toward him, coming to settle a foot away by his side. 

“Gavin, do you really believe that?” It was too familiar, Gavin didn’t stand a chance. Why did Connor and Richard have to be so fucking similar, it wasn’t fair. 

Gavin took a breath and shook his head at him lightly. “I just want him to be happy, and I’m not the one who can do that. He’s an android. He shouldn’t be stuck with me.” 

Connor frowned at him as he looked him over. “But, you feel the same way?” 

“Yeah,” Gavin sighed out, giving Connor a twitch of a smile before he could stop himself. “I do.” 

“Then be with him.” 

Gavin sighed and shot a look to the ceiling. Fucking androids. “Connor, it’s not that simple.” 

“But I don’t understand, you’re better with him.”  Gavin’s attention shot to him, brow furrowing as he looked the other over. Connor was watching him intensely, as if he was trying to jump into his mind. Gavin stared back, eyes widening slightly as Connor looked him over with a small confused shake of his head. “You are good together.” 

Gavin rolled his eyes at the admission. “We’re good partners, and it... it should stay that way.” 

“You make him happy.” Connor stated, face relaxing into something softer, more heartfelt. “And he makes you happy. You deserve to be happy, Gavin.” 

Why did he have to say that? Of all the fucking things he could have said, it had to be that. Gavin swallowed thickly and shook his head down at his cup. “No, Connor. I don’t.”  

Gavin picked up his drink and walked away, making a b-line for the corridor and heading quickly down to his hiding place. Back to the old filing room. If he was lucky, he would make it all day without anyone finding him, he might even manage a smoke break or two on the roof. 

He just needed to be alone. Like always, like it should be.  

Gavin was better on his own. 

 

The light was humming again. Buzzing faintly above his head as he flicked through the names of all their recent arrests. There had to be something. A connection, whether it be family or even the same high school. There had to be something. 

Gavin sighed and reached for his coffee only to find it empty. He sighed and placed it back on the floor, the click of the porcelain echoed around the room, a dull reminder that he should probably be going back out soon. 

Usually he took the whole damn pot, but after Connor cornered him he hadn’t exactly had the chance to whip around and grab the thing in his quick exit. 

His back was aching and his neck was beginning to lock up from looking down for so long. He tapped at his phone and checked the time, yeah seemed about right. He’d been down here for around three hours, the ache in his, well  _everything_ , made sense and he figured he should probably at least stand up and stretch the hunch out of his back. 

His knees let out an awful crack as he stood straight, shoulders following them with a pop as he spread his arms out for the first time since he’d settled in here. A reminder that he probably shouldn’t be sat in a dimly lit, musty storage room, on the floor to add, in his late thirties. 

Gavin let out a deep sigh as the tension began to bleed from his body and he could feel his limbs coming back to life again. Hiding down here sucked but it was better than being in the bullpen. 

Better than having to look Richard in the eye all day, knowing he was making him fucking miserable. 

Scooping his phone from the floor he took the moment to check if anyone had messaged him, the signal down here wasn’t great but the occasional text would still come through. Checking his pockets, he found his smokes and counted how many he had left; six. That was plenty for the day. 

Gavin made his way from the room and up to the roof, he wasn’t supposed to go through the exit door but fuck it, if ‘avoiding your android partner because you let him kiss you, and then told him to fuck off’ wasn’t an emergency, then he didn’t know what was. 

It was getting cold again, Gavin knew he’d have to break out his old jacket if he didn’t want to start getting lumped with a cold every other week. The fresh, cool air was a nice break however from the stuffy basement room, and he took a seat by the edge of the roof, back resting against the wall and he sunk to the floor. The fine gravel under him wasn’t the most comfortable thing in the world but it wasn’t the worst, he was almost used to it, and it wasn’t anything a quick shuffle around couldn’t fix. 

He managed to light his cig and take two drags before the roof door swung open. Gavin looked up from his phone quickly and came face to face with Tina, who gave him a raised brow as she approached. 

“So, you’re back on this.” She waved a hand at him and Gavin let out a huff. 

“I’m sure you’ve heard why.” 

Tina hummed but didn’t comment, only moved to sit on the roof ledge next to him and bent over so she was more at his eye level. 

“Well I’ve had a hell of a day. You will not believe what happened to me this morning.” she started and Gavin nodded at her to continue, eyes casting down at his phone screen once more. “Connor asked me about you.” 

Gavin gave her a quick sneer before shaking his head. “Yeah, I bet he did.” 

“No, you’re not getting it.” Tina poked him in the shoulder causing him to look back at her. “He  _asked_  about you. Like, ‘ _asked_ ’ asked. I said I wasn’t telling him shit until I knew why he gave a fuck, and he told me he, and I quote, he ‘just wanted to get to know you better’.” Tina shot him a look and threw her arms out. “What the fuck, am I right?” 

Gavin let out a small laugh and Tina dropped her hands to her thighs with a loud slap. 

“He’s just asking because I told him to fuck off this morning.” Gavin sighed and took another drag, forcing his attention back to his phone with a small shake of his head. “I’ll tell him to let it go.” 

“You want to know the weird part?” Tina asked and Gavin looked up at her with a non-comital hum. “Richard did the  _same_  thing, like a month ago. I figured those two were connected at the head, seen as they share the same face and shit, but no, apparently that information didn’t get passed over.” 

Gavin blinked up at her. “What?” 

“Yeah,” Tina laughed out, nodding down at him. “He came to me after my shift one time and asked me all these  _stupid_ questions about you. I’m talking like; favourite colour, favourite food, drink, fucking season!” Tina pointed down at him. “You name it, he asked me about it.” 

Gavin gazed up at her blankly as she smiled down at him.  

“He... he did that?” Tina hummed as she nodded at him and Gavin had to take a moment to pause to take in what she was telling him. He shuffled around a little, leaning more on his side to face her better as she pulled him in. “What did you say?” 

“Well I told him, if he was doing a profile on you, so it was easier to find your weaknesses and kill you, I was in.” Tina laughed as Gavin swatted at her leg. 

“I’m serious.” he scolded with a weak eye roll. 

“Me too,” she smiled at him before shaking her head and waving her hands out idly. “I’ve never known anyone, especially your partner, to ask me shit about you like that.” 

Gavin dropped his head and let out a small groan before taking another drag, shoving his phone back into his pocket. “I know where this is going.” 

“Gavin. Be serious here.” Tina moved forward, catching his chin with her hand and pulling his head up to face her. “Last week you called me at three in the god damn morning, to tell me you wanted to be with this guy.” Gavin sighed heavily in her hand. “I thought you wanted this. I was so  _ready_  to see you two finally get your shit together.” 

Gavin pushed her off with a weak shove and turned himself back against the wall, attention going back to his cigarette, only halfway brunt through. 

“It’s not that simple, it was a mistake.” he countered but Tina didn’t take it. 

“What? You liking a guy? A guy who actually likes you too for once? Someone who isn’t going to use you and treat you like crap?” Gavin scowled at the floor as Tina ranted above him. “Come on, you’re not telling me something and I’m pissed.” 

Gavin shook his head. “Look, I know you’re trying to be a good friend right now, but the more you talk, the more I want you to throw you off the roof.” 

Tina sighed next to him and Gavin caught her shaking her head from the corner of his eye. 

“Gavin, I have seen you with a  _ton_ of guys. Every. Single. One. has been a complete and total  _asshole_. Every. One.” She made a point of each word by jabbing him in the shoulder for emphasis. “And I kept my mouth shut, I was a good friend. But  _this?_  This is way past that.” 

Gavin kept his eyes to the floor, ignoring her the best he could and it didn’t take long for Tina to get tired of the act. Tina pulled herself down next to him, settling and adjusting her uniform into a comfortable position before turning to stare square at him, before she thumped him in the leg, hard. 

“Ow, what the fuck?” Gavin scolded as he rubbed at his thigh. Tina simply replied by shaking her head at him. 

“You’re like my fucking brother. I stick up for you. I look out for you. And fuck me, if I can’t make you happy for once.”  

Gavin scoffed and Tina hit him again. 

“Ow! Stop hitting me.” 

“Then start listening!” Tina snapped and raised her hand to point her at finger at him, Gavin flinched back without even thinking as she waved her finger in his face. “You, are an asshole. You are a mess and a pain in the ass.” 

“Great pep talk.” he scoffed and Tina mocked him with her own scoff, before she reached up quickly and smacked her palm against his forehead. Gavin startled and stared at her with wide eyes as she waved the finger at him again.  

“But you are a good cop, you’re a good friend and you would be a...” she pulled a face and Gavin rolled his eyes. “Well, you’d be an okay boyfriend.” Gavin huffed out a breath and Tina let out a sigh, head ducking slightly and hand waving in the air before it fell to settle on his arm. “You’re not  _worthless_ , Gavin.” 

“I know that.” Gavin snapped back and Tina shook her head with a disproving look. 

“Do you? Then why did you throw away the  _one_  guy who I was actually rooting for?” Gavin sighed down at his feet and Tina shook him gently. “What is so  _wrong_ with you, that you honestly think you don’t deserve to be happy for once?” 

Gavin shut his eyes as he paused to think, hand coming up to pinch at the bridge of his nose. He knew she wasn’t going to let this go. Tina was one hard motherfucker to shake off once she entered full best friend mode and Gavin had managed it once - only once - in his life, and that was only because she was drunk and was distracted by a glitter cannon. 

Maybe she was right.  _Maybe_ , yeah right. Tina was  _always_ right. Gavin hated it. Every time. 

“Talk to me.” Tina pet his arm gently, voice matching her actions as she spoke to him. “Gavin, please. Why are you ruining this?” 

“I  _can’t_. Fuck, T. You know me, I’m a fucking disaster.” Gavin shook his head lightly and lifted his head to give her a defeated look, hand gesturing weakly in the air, smoke still streaming from the cigarette between his fingers. “I want to make him happy but I... I just can’t.” 

Tina paused, brow furrowing as she watched him. “Why?” 

“I’ve  _never_ been happy. Let’s face it, I’m about as far from happy as you can get. I don’t even know what I’d  _do_.” Gavin sighed before he took a drag and gestured out mindlessly again. “He’s fucking  _perfect_. He’s a fucking android detective and he’s worth so much  _more_  than me. What the hell can I do with that?” 

Gavin shook his head again and his hand dropped to his lap. “I couldn’t even handle a serial alcoholic let alone the fucking wonder of new age technology.” Tina gave his arm a squeeze and Gavin took another drag before he rested his head back against the wall. “He’s perfect and he’s always going to be perfect. Me? I’m barely human at the best of times. He... He doesn’t deserve that. I don’t... I don’t deserve someone like him.” 

Tina shuffled closer and put her head against his shoulder. “I think you’re wrong.” 

“Yeah, people have been telling me that a lot lately.” Gavin muttered quietly, mostly to himself, and he felt Tina shake her head against him. 

“Coz you are. You ever think that maybe, people aren’t disagreeing with you just because it’s kind?” Gavin glanced down at her and Tina lifted her head to look him in the eye. “You had a kinda fucked-up childhood, maybe what you think about yourself isn’t worth all its salt?” 

Gavin snorted and shook his head. “Why do you always have to ruin the moment with logic?” 

Tina gave him a light chuckle as he flicked the cigarette butt to the side, and pulled back to face him better, hand still resting on his arm. 

“Because, I’m such a good friend.” 

Gavin let out a huff of a laugh. “Yeah, if you say so.” 

Tina gave his arm a pat before moving away and standing up, she brushed herself off before throwing an arm down to him, Gavin took it and pulled himself up. Tina looked him over as he did the same as she had done, dusting the gravel from his jeans, and gave him a half smile. 

“You know, even though I _know_  I’m probably going to have this conversation like a _thousand_  times with you in the next few months,” she shook her head lightly. “I want you to go for it. Take a chance on the guy. He is, after all, the one person who can actually stand you.” 

Gavin pulled a face. “Thanks for the confidence boost.” 

Tina laughed lightly and gave him a pat on the shoulder before walking back toward the door. Gavin watched her for a moment before following, nodding at her as he held the door open for him. 

Now all he had to do was make up his apology. Yeah, that was going to be an easy task. He at least owed Richard an explanation and he knew for a fact that he wasn’t going to let him get away with any half assed reason. This was going to be a  _talk_ , like a real sit down and work shit out talk. 

Gavin hated those. But maybe Richard was worth it.  

Maybe, he’d see. He had to think of something to say first and then he’d worry about the rest of it. 

Gavin was too stuck in his head to realize that by the time he’d gotten back to his desk, Richard was still nowhere to be seen. Gavin looked around, checking the case files littered across their desks, at least a small sign that the other had been there, and remembered that he’d left all his notes down in the filing room.  

Cursing himself out he decided that he’d go back for them later, even if it was a good out from talking to Richard, and kept on looking. He looked across the pen and saw Hank working away at his desk, if anyone would know where Richard had gone, it would be Connor. And seen as Connor was also missing, he’d have to get that out of Hank first. 

“You seen-” Gavin started, walking over to him but Anderson cut him off. 

“No, I haven’t seen your boyfriend.” His face was way too smug for Gavin’s liking. 

“Fuck you, he’s not my boyfriend.” Gavin flipped him off before waving at Connor’s desk. “What about your pet, you seen him at least?” 

Hank paused before turning his head to glare up at him. “No, I left his leash in the car so unfortunately he’s run away.” He bit back and Gavin sighed, hand coming up to rub over his face before holding it out in front of him. 

“Look, either tell me where he is or I start going through his shit.” 

Hank pulled a face before reluctantly moving back in his chair to face him better. “Connor went to get lunch, like he always does, at lunch time.” Gavin shot him a glare. “So, your boyfriend probably went with him, seen as he’s doing everything he possibly can to avoid you.” 

Gavin sighed, hand dropping to his side and turned to walk away before Hank sat forward. “What’s going on between you two?” 

“It’s none of your business.” Gavin snapped back and Hank shot him a look. 

“Well it is, if your-” 

“Say boyfriend again Hank, and I swear to god I will shoot you.” Gavin cut him off and Hank gave him a smug smile in return. 

“If  _Richard_ is hanging around us like a lost dog.” Hank waved a hand at his desk. “The guy has done nothing but help all morning, now I’m not one to complain about work getting done but the guy is relentless.” 

Gavin sighed and put his hands in his pockets, Hank stared him down as he tried to avoid looking at him. “Everything alright? I thought you two had made like a peace treaty or something?” 

“What, like Connor hasn’t told you everything already?” Gavin huffed out and Hank rolled his eyes. 

“I’m not his fucking dad, the guy has his own life.” 

Gavin pulled at face at him. “You call him son.” 

“It’s a term of endearment.” Hank shot back. “Not that you would know.” 

Gavin let out a quick breath and narrowed his eyes at him. “Alright, fuck you. Forget it.” 

Gavin turned to walk away when Hank stopped him.  

“Wait, wait.” Hank stood from his chair and Gavin reluctantly turned to face him again, Hank sighed and held his hands up. “Sorry, alright?” 

Gavin shot him an uneasy scowl but nodded at him anyway, against his better nature, and Hank shrugged at him.  

“Not that I care, but something is eating him up, haven’t seen an android this lost since Connor saw Sumo at the vets.” Gavin huffed out a laugh and Hank moved to lean on the edge of his desk, crossing his arms over his chest. “You two have a fight or something?” 

Gavin really didn’t want to say anything, it was bad enough that Connor was getting involved in his sorry life, he didn’t want Anderson giving him fucking pickup lines. 

“It’s nothing, or it will be, once I talk to him.” Hank hummed in agreement and Gavin gestured at himself. “I just need to say sorry for something, but I can’t do that if I can’t find him, so you going to help or what?” 

Hank sighed and nodded to the door before pulling away from his desk and moving to sit again. “They’re at Chicken Feed.” 

“The fucking food stands?  _That's_ where you get lunch?” Gavin pulled a face at him and Hank shot him a glare. 

“Hey, I don’t need you getting on my case about my eating habits alright, I got Connor for that.” 

“Well a kid just wants the best for his father.” Gavin chimed back as he made a move to the door and Hank waved him off. 

“Shut the hell up, go find your boyfriend.” 

 

“Detective, Reed. Is there something wrong?” Connor saw him coming before Gavin even had the chance to open his mouth. 

Gavin shook his head as he came to stand with him. “No, I’m looking for Richard. Hank said you two had gone to get lunch.” 

“I’m glad.” Connor gave him a smile and nodded. “Nines said he needed to go take a look at something case related, but I’m sure he’ll be back shortly.” 

Gavin frowned. “Did he say what he was looking for?” 

“No,” Connor shook his head, looking a little puzzled down at the table. “He simply said he needed to go and left.” 

“And you didn’t think to ask him where he was going? Or anything about what he was looking for.” Gavin snapped at him and Connor’s brow furrowed. 

“I didn’t think anything of it at the time. Hank advised me to ‘keep my distance’. I’ve been giving him space after I learnt what I did from you this morning. It’s really not my place to get involved.” 

“Well at least you’re right about one thing.” Gavin sighed to himself and looked around the area, it wasn’t the worst place to be. A little beat up, run down, but then again, so much of Detroit was these days. Gavin scanned the buildings around them, this place felt familiar but he knew he’s never done anything more than drive through. 

“What street is this?” Gavin asked, still looking around. Connor gave him the address as he looked over the buildings, the information going in but not quite settling as something began to nag at him, deep in his gut. 

“I know this place,” Gavin shook his head, looking back to Connor. “Why do I know this place?” 

Connor opened his mouth to speak when he suddenly froze, LED at his temple flickering to yellow. Gavin raised a hand in confusion and Connor twitched and blinked before him. 

“You alright?” Gavin worried, looking Connor over with concern. 

Connor’s brow furrowed as he straightened up a little in front of him, eyes still cast just beyond Gavin and he seemed to blink himself back into consciousness. Gavin reached out and put a hand on his arm in an attempt to focus him. “Hey. Connor. Talk to me?” 

“Sorry, detective.” Connor rushed out and gave his head a little shake, the kind that a human would do when trying to clear their thoughts. “It’s Nines... I think.” 

Gavin stared back at him. “You think?” 

“I don’t know.” Connor seemed genuinely confused and Gavin slowly took his hand back as he watched him carefully. “I’ve never had a message like that before.” 

“Message?” Gavin questioned as Connor raised a hand to his head and rested his fingers against the LED at his temple. “Hey, you sure you’re alright?” 

“I-” Connor started to answer before he cut himself off, eyes casting to the ground for a moment. He raised his head a frustrated sigh and looked back at Gavin. “I think so, I think it was a distress signal.” 

“What like an android SOS?” Gavin waved a hand Connor, who in turn pulled a face back at him. 

“Yes,” Connor looked back over his shoulder at the string of buildings behind him and shook his head. “I think Nines is in trouble.” 

 

They rounded the corner at speed, Gavin wondered if Connor was pacing himself for him, he’d heard stories, Hank had told the entire bullpen that Connor had been in pursuit of an android and had chased the thing onto a train. Gavin knew sure as shit he couldn’t run as fast as a god damn train. 

They could hear voices as they entered the building, Gavin followed behind Connor as he slowed his pace as they walked down a long hallway, hand steady behind him, resting on his gun as they moved forward. Connor was looking around the building as they moved, eyes seemingly scanning every inch but he kept moving forward. 

The voices were louder now and Gavin was trying to hear what was being said, it was an argument for sure, heated tones and short loud sentences could be heard from beyond the hall. Two males, couldn’t tell if they were human or not but it didn’t matter, both yelling at each other as they came closer to the door. 

Then Gavin heard someone else, a familiar someone. Richard’s voice. He shot a look at Connor who he knew had heard it too and Connor simply nodded back. He was in there, what the hell was he doing in there? What the hell was he doing going off alone? 

Fucking androids. 

They were halfway down, raised voices almost clear enough to make out words when Gavin heard it; a gunshot. 

Androids weren’t allowed to carry a weapon. Gavin knew that bullet didn’t come from Richard. 

Gavin threw himself past Connor, shoving him back with his arm and raced toward the door. The doors swung open with a squeal of rusty metal and Gavin burst in just as Richard fall down on one knee. Two men stood above him, one pointing a gun down at Richard. Gavin pulled his own gun from its holster and aimed it at the two as their attention shot towards the sound of the door. 

“Detroit police! Freeze!” 

Both men gave each other a look before they breaking out into a run, the gunman threw the weapon to the side, gun clattering against the floor as they fled. Connor rushed past him after them and Gavin ran forward to Richard, fumbling to put his gun away as he dropped to crouch by his side. 

“You alright?” Gavin rushed out, checking him over. 

Richard had a hand pressed to his side, blue blood rushing out between his fingers and dripping down to the cement floor, and something twisted in Gavin’s stomach. He was too late, he’d been shot. 

Gavin pulled out his phone and dialled the precinct. “This is Detective Reed, this a 10 – 33, I have an officer down. Repeat officer down. Requesting 10 – 78, I have an officer in pursuit of suspects but we need back up. Track my location.” 

“Copy that, detective.” 

Gavin moved in front of the other as he fumbled to put his phone back in his pocket, when he failed on the third attempt to find his pocket, he opted for casting it to the side with a curse. He put his hands over Richard's shoulders, fingers hovering in place as he looked him over.  

“Talk to me. How bad is it?” Gavin asked and Richard shook his head. 

“I’m fine.” 

“You’re not fine. You just got shot.” Gavin rushed out a frustrated breath and shook his head. “Just tell me what to do.” 

Richard pulled a face before his free hand moved to hold Gavin’s arm. “Help me stand.” 

Gavin helped him up carefully, supporting him as he rose to his feet. Richard swayed a little and Gavin moved an arm around his waist to guide him towards the wall. Richard leaned back with a pained noise and Gavin froze. His eyes began to widen as he stared at him, his hand still covering his bleeding side.  

“Woah.” Gavin stared blankly and Richard gave him an irritated look. “You’re... hurt.”  

“Yes, detective. I thought we’d covered that.” 

“That’s not what I meant.” Gavin replied back, eyes never leaving Richard’s, Gavin shook his head lightly and gestured at his side. “You can feel it, can’t you?” Gavin blinked back at him for a moment as Richard pulled a face, similar to a grimace. “Oh... my god, you’re in pain.” 

Richard pulled a face at him. “No.” 

“That so,” Gavin chimed back before pushing his hand over Richard’s, forcing a groan out of him. Gavin watched him as his face screwed up and he doubled over, pulling away from the pleasure and forcing himself back into the wall. “You’re not the only one who can spot a liar.” 

Richard sighed heavily and sank back, eyes slipping closed. Gavin watched him for a moment before he moved forward and attempted to pull his hand away. 

“Take your hand off. Let me see.” 

“It’s fine. It’s nothing,” Richard huffed back, keeping his hand firmly pressed over his stomach. Gavin shot him a look and squeezed his wrist. 

“Then show me. Move your hand.” he challenged and Richard glanced away before letting out a huff of air through his nose. 

“It’s fine.” Richard tried again, jaw tight as Gavin narrowed his eyes at him. 

“I’m not letting this go, you’re hurt. Take your hand away.” Gavin insisted, squeezing his wrist again, Richard’s eyes closed against he rested his head back against the wall, Gavin took the moment to take a different approach, tone softening as he continued. “You’re forgetting I’ve been shot before, I know how much it sucks.” 

Richard let out a tired sigh, eyes slowly opening to glance down at Gavin as, reluctantly, he began to move the shaking hand away. Gavin cast his eyes over the wound, blue blood began freely running down over his skin from the bloody bullet hole beneath. 

“Shit,” Gavin rushed out and quickly pressed Richard’s hand back over the wound, his own hand resting on top of it securely. 

“Oh, I thought you wanted me to take my hand away,” Richard snarked back and Gavin shot him a surprised look, brow furrowing as he caught his eyes. 

“Are you serious right now.” Gavin snapped, glaring at the other. “You’re bleeding out and you’re in pain, and you want to play with sarcasm?” 

Gavin sighed and shook his head. “Okay, we are talking about this later, right now, we need to get you help.” 

“Cyberlife.” Richard rushed out and Gavin blinked back at him. “I can’t fix this myself and I doubt anyone at the station can help, I’ll need repairs I can’t do.” 

Gavin ran his free hand through his hair before giving the other a small shake of his head. “Okay, I’ll drive. My car’s around the corner.” 

Richard nodded and Gavin moved to helped him walk, supporting him with an arm around his waist, pulling one arm over his shoulders and holding onto his wrist tightly.  

 

“You’re speeding.” Richard commented, annoyingly calm given the situation, and Gavin glared at the road ahead. 

“Yeah, well you can arrest me later.” 

His fingers twitched nervously against the wheel as they sped along the highway, the road connecting Cyberlife to the rest of Detroit was obnoxiously long. 

“Gavin, your heart rate is spiking.” his fingers curled around the wheel at the comment, knuckles turning white. 

“Shut up. Should you be even talking right now? You’ve pretty much flooded my car with your stupid blood.” Gavin snapped his mouth shut and glanced away, looking in the side mirror in an attempt to find a distraction. 

“You’re scared.” 

“Of course I’m scared!” Gavin snapped shooting a sharp look at the other. “You’re fucking bleeding to death and you’re in pain, a thing I didn’t even know you could be, and you’re acting like it’s nothing.” 

“Gavin-” 

“I’m panicking alright! I am seriously freaking out and you’re not helping.” Gavin let out a breath and shook his head, screwing up his face as he rushed out his frustrations, eyes casting to the side at the other. “I don’t want you to die. I know you think I hate you and I’m an asshole and I never want to see you again, but you’re wrong, alright-” 

“Gavin.” Richard snapped and Gavin sighed, head hitting the headrest of his seat hard as he swallowed thickly. “I’ll be fine.” 

“Do you honestly believe that? Or are you just saying that to shut me up?” Gavin shot him a look before shaking his head and gesturing a hand at him. “Just... Don’t die until I’ve had a chance to talk to you about stuff, okay? That’s all I’m asking for here.”  

Gavin didn’t notice his hands were shaking until he went to change gear and almost missed the stick. Richard was staring at him. He could feel it. Feel the constant eyes on the side of his face. Gavin tried to keep his attention on the road but the nagging in the back of his head kept his focus scattered. 

“We can talk now.” 

Gavin shot him a glare. “Is that fucking robot code for ‘I’m not going to make it’ because if it is, I’ll never forgive you.” 

Richard opened his mouth to say something but closed it just as quick, eyes casting around the car as he seemed to be searching for the right thing to say. Gavin watched him from the corner of his view as he let out a huff and sank back a little into the seat.  

“I’m... I’m shutting down.” Gavin’s foot pressed harder against the accelerator. “I have time. We’ll make it. Please, slow down.” 

“I’m not bringing this car down below sixty.” Gavin pointed at him with a shaky hand and Richard sighed. “Not until you explain what the hell is wrong with you.” 

“Just don’t kill us both trying to prove a point.” Richard argued and after a stern look, Gavin huffed and Richard felt the car slow a little. “Thank you.” 

Gavin stared back at the road ahead. “So, you’re dying, and you can feel it. Why the hell didn’t you tell me you could feel pain?” 

He tried to keep his voice steady but he missed the mark pretty hard. Richard gave him a confused look before shaking his head weakly. 

“I’ve never been this hurt before, I didn’t know I even  _had_ an understanding of hurt.” Richard answered easily as he looked down at himself and pulled his hand away from the hole in his stomach, blood ran from it still in a steady flow down and over his hip. “When I was shot before, it was different, it didn’t...  _feel_ like anything.” 

Richard placed his hand back and looked up to see Gavin staring at him. “Eyes on the road. If you insist on driving like an idiot at least watch where you’re going.” 

“Don’t give me attitude right now.” Gavin grumbled but did as he was told, eyes casting back to the road ahead. “I can’t believe you went off without me.” 

“I was with Connor.” 

“Who you ditched! To follow your own lead, and look where it got you.” Gavin sighed and shook his head. “I’m pissed. I’m so pissed at you for doing this without me. We’re partners.” 

“Are we?” Richard uttered quietly and Gavin felt like he’d been punched in the gut. 

“Yes!” Gavin rushed out as he shot him a stern look, brows furrowed sharply. “It doesn’t matter if we’re not okay, you don’t go off without me. He could have killed you, and what the hell do you think that would have done to me?” 

Richard let out a shaky breath and shook his head lightly. “I’m sorry.” 

“You’re damn right you’re sorry. God, did you even think how much that would fuck me up?” Gavin shot him another glance. “Finding you dead, knowing the last fucking thing I did with you was-” Gavin cut himself off and his fingers tightened around the wheel again. “You can’t do that to me, okay? It doesn’t matter if we’re fighting, you still have to trust me.” 

Richard stared at him for a moment before he nodded and looked down at his stomach again, Gavin caught the look from the corner of his eye and took a breath to steel himself. 

“Now, tell me the truth. No lying, no pretending to be fine to stop me from yelling at you.” Richard looked up at him and Gavin turned his head to look at him fully. “How bad is it?” 

Richard paused for a moment, his LED flickering from yellow to red before landing on a steady red. He looked up at Gavin and Gavin felt his heart clench in his chest as Richard stared back at him with wide, unfocused eyes. 

“I’m  _scared_.” 

 

“Mr. Kamski? A ‘Gavin Reed’ is calling you?” 

Elijah’s eyes shot up from his desk, pen falling from his hand as he gaped toward the Chloe that stood in his doorway. 

“Put him through.” 

 

“I don’t have time to pretend I’m loving this so fucking listen up.” Gavin snapped into his dashboard as the car connected and Richard let out a small huff of a laugh. “Richard is... hurt, and I’m driving to Cyberlife. I want your ass at the door, ready to get him and fix him, you understand?” 

“ _Gavin, I’m not-_ ” 

“Did I stutter? I don’t care about your fancy office, or your fucking stupid suit. You get your ass downstairs and you help him, not some random tech dipshit.  _You_. You understand me?” 

There was a pause and Gavin could feel the wheel creaking under his grip. 

“ _... I’ll be there._ ” 

 

Gavin threw himself out of the car so fast his door swung back and bounced on its hinges, he practically ran around the car, ripping Richard’s door open and pulling the android’s arm around his shoulder. He helped Richard from the car as carefully as he could quickly before walking him as fast as they could manage toward the building. 

As promised, Elijah was at the door. He gave them a quick look over before two androids wheeled forward what looked like a gurney, and Elijah moved to help Richard lay down. Gavin took the moment to grab the corner of Elijah’s suit jacket and pull him close. 

“He dies, I’m going to shoot you. And I can do that, so don’t even test me.” 

He shoved him back and stepped away, Elijah only nodded at him before walking toward the elevator and instructing the others to follow him. Gavin watched as Richard’s eyes slipped shut and fought the urge to follow them, he knew he would be of little use and he didn’t want anything to go wrong. 

The doors shut with a hiss and Gavin watched the numbers on the screen go down until they stopped, and he was left standing, alone, in Cyberlife’s reception. 

Gavin sighed and ran a hand through his hair, he went to grab his phone when he remembered that he’d left it in the alley when he’d called for help. Cursing to himself he looked around and saw a desk, or at least what looked like a desk. 

He walked over and was about to jump across when he heard the click of heals on the floor. Gavin turned and came face to face with a Chloe, who gave him a kind smile and gestured behind her. 

“Mr. Kamski said you’d be a little distressed, so I’m here to take you to his office.” 

“I don’t need an office, I need a phone.” Gavin snapped and turned toward the desk again, with a little jump he pulled himself up, balancing over the edge he looked behind it. 

“There’s no phone out here, this is Cyberlife, Mr. Reed. There isn’t a need for a phone.” 

“Yeah? Then how the hell did you answer me?” Gavin snapped and Chloe simply smiled before reaching up and tapping her head. Gavin sighed and dropped down, he slid his hands from the table top and gestured at her. 

“Fine, lead the way.” 

Chloe nodded and smiled sweetly at him again, Gavin tried not to shudder as he followed her into a separate elevator. Gavin looked around as they stepped inside and watched as she pulled back her skin and pressed a hand to the controls. 

The elevator jerked to life, an oldy out of place feeling given the building, and Gavin braced himself against the back wall. 

“Mr. Kamski has instructed me to welcome you.”  

Gavin huffed and looked up at the counter, watching the floors tick by. “Yeah, I bet he did.” 

The doors opened on the 88th floor and Gavin followed Chloe as she stepped out and let him down a corridor. The walls were different. It wasn’t just a bland white, it was cream paper, with an old paisley pattern that Gavin recognised from somewhere. 

He was led to a door and Gavin had to stop himself from shouting out a curse as Chloe opened it before him. It was like walking through a door into the past, Gavin looked around as he took a cautious step forward and into the office. 

It was their room. Their bedroom from home. A room he hadn’t seen for over twenty years. 

The furniture was of course updated and there were no beds, but the space was practically the same beyond that. Gavin took slow steps further in, eyes dancing around, unable to find a point of focus. The wallpaper, the one he had recognised in the hall, it was theirs. The carpet the same in every detail, down to the scorch mark he and Elijah had made accidentally one time when they were messing around with their dad’s blowtorch. 

“This is Elijah’s office?” He questioned quietly, not really looking for an answer but Chloe answered him anyway. 

“Yes. He designed it to be familiar, a place of peace. He appreciates minimal décor usually but this room holds a special place in his heart. It makes him happy. It helps him think.” 

Gavin swallowed the lump in his throat.  

“Where’s the phone?” He managed to get out and Chloe walked forward and pointed to the desk, Gavin noted the technology on the desk was far from outdated, but it wasn’t the most advanced, hell Gavin had a better phone than that in his apartment and he hadn’t gone shopping in years. 

“I’ll leave you alone, Mr. Kamski said for me to come get you when he’s done.” Done saving Richard’s life, Gavin added in his head as he watched her turn and leave. 

Gavin sighed and grabbed the phone, dialling for the precinct. The call connected and the android at the desk answered. 

“It’s Gavin Reed, let me speak to Lieutenant Anderson.” 

“ _The lieutenant is busy on a case right_ _now;_ _would you like to be passed through?_ ” 

“Yes, yes, just let me talk to him.” Gavin huffed and shook his head, running a hand over his face. The line clicked and Hank’s voice came over the line. 

“ _Reed, you alright?_ ” 

“Yeah. I’m just checking on Connor; did he get the guy?” 

“ _He got the shooter, but his buddy managed to get away. We’ve got a patrol doing rounds in the area, so he won’t get far._ ” Gavin sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “ _You alright, Reed?_ ” 

“Richard was hurt. Like, really hurt and now I’m stuck at Cyberlife until they fix him.” 

“ _Cyberlife?_ _Shit. Well I hope he’s okay._ ” There was a sound in the background and Anderson’s attention was pulled a way for a moment before he came back. “ _Just wait will you, Jesus._ ” 

“What’s wrong?” Gavin frowned down at the phone. 

“ _Nothing, just Connor. He_ _wants_ _to ask you some stuff, that alright?_ ” 

Gavin sighed again. “If it’s about Rich then no, because I just got here.” 

“ _Hold on._ ” There was muffled talking and what sounded like a hushed argument before Hank came back again. “ _Sorry, he says he_ _needs_ _to talk to you._ ” 

“Fine. Put him on.” Gavin huffed and heard the line disconnect before the phone in his hand rang. “What the fuck?” 

Gavin answered the call and Connor’s voice came through. “Sorry Gavin, but this was an easier way to talk to you without discussing details with Hank.” 

“Are you, like, mind dialling me right now?” 

“Correct.” 

Gavin blinked down at his feet and shook his head, moving to pull the chair from the desk and threw himself into it with a sigh. “My life has become so fucking weird.” 

“I can’t see it being very normal but I understand why you may think that.” 

“Connor, what the fuck are you secret calling me for?” 

There was a pause before Connor spoke again. “Is he dead?” 

“No!” Gavin rushed out. “Fuck, I told Hank he was fine.” 

“You said you were at Cyberlife, that doesn’t bode well for us.” 

Gavin sighed and shook his head to no one. “Well he’s fine, or at least he’s going to be or you’ll have two bodies to pick up later.” 

There was another pause and Gavin could practically hear Connor’s head tilt. “I don’t know how you think that’s comforting, Gavin.” 

“I called Elijah.” Gavin fought the urge to pull a face. “I didn’t want some random android technician trying to piece him back together, so I told him to fix it or be shot at.” 

“And you feel threatening your brother, will help bring mine back safely?” 

Gavin shrugged. “Felt right at the time.” 

Another pause. “And how are you doing?” 

Gavin sighed, running a hand over his eyes. “I’m sitting in my brother’s - who I haven’t spoken to in almost twenty years - office - which he’s decorated like my childhood home by the way – waiting to see if the guy I kissed the other night and told to fuck off, is going to die.” Gavin caught his breath and let out a sigh. “I’m fine.” 

“You sound great.” 

Gavin snorted. “Well I haven’t stormed down to Elijah’s workshop of horrors and started shooting androids, so count me as fucking peachy.” 

“...Gavin, we can come and get you?” 

Gavin let out a breath and sank into the chair. “No, thanks. I’m just gonna wait it out.” 

“Keep us updated.” 

Gavin suddenly remembered the sole reason he was calling from this damn office. “Shit, Connor. Do me a favour. I left my phone in the building, dispatch was tracking it and I forgot to pick it up.” 

“I’m on it. I’ll save this number for now so you have a way to reach us.” 

“Thanks, and hey, Connor?” Gavin sat forward in the chair. “He’ll be alright. I might not like the guy, but Elijah will fix him. He’s the smartest guy I know with this shit, Rich will be back before you know it.” 

“Thank you, Gavin. I appreciate the gesture.” 

Gavin snorted as the line disconnected and he put the phone back in its place. He stood from the desk and made for the door, there had to be someplace else he could wait, being in the room of the past was not helping his nerves. 

Plus, he wanted food, he hoped that Elijah was still as smart as he used to be and had a vending machine around somewhere so he could grab something. 

 

After an hour of wandering, Gavin managed to find a small breakroom. It had what he needed, a vending machine, and it was quiet. There was nothing but a couple of counters. a white metal table, and four matching metal foldaway chairs. 

He pretty much decided as soon as he saw the machine that he wasn’t paying for a damn thing, and so had spent a further half an hour, pulling the snacks from the bottom two rows. Luckily, no one had come in, android or human alike, so he was free to raid the machine and enjoy his food in peace. 

He’d looked around for any kind of smoke alarm but couldn’t find one he could disconnect, so he left it. Figured fuck it, he wanted a smoke and he didn’t want to leave, plus it was a nice fuck you to Elijah so he wasn’t going to feel bad about it anytime soon. 

The door creaked open after another half an hour, and six candy bars, and Elijah slowly walked into the room. Gavin’s head shot up and he watched him carefully, mouth half full but he kept chewing slowly. 

“You still have your gun?” Elijah asked and Gavin made the move to unclip it, and place it on the table. “Ah, good.” 

“Why, am I shooting you today?” Gavin muttered around his chocolate, reaching to his pack of smokes and pulling one out. 

“No,” Elijah gave him a small smile. “At least not over your android anyway.” 

“He’s not my-” Gavin began to snap before cutting himself off with a huff and lighting his cigarette.  

“Understood. Well, whatever he is, he’s fine. I can have Chloe take you to him, if you’d like, now he’s good as new. Even better to be honest.” 

Gavin’s heckles raised at that and he shot a suspicious look at his brother, blowing the smoke slowly from his mouth as he stared him down. “What did you do?” 

“Nothing,” Elijah raised his hands in surrender. “He needed a few upgrades, minor system details, nothing that would affect his deviancy. He’s the same as you brought him in, just with one less bullet hole.” 

Gavin settled a little in his seat and Elijah brought his hands down and gestured to the seat in front of Gavin. 

“May I?” Gavin eyed him over for a moment before nodding once and watching him as he sat. Gavin stared him down, unblinking as he watched him in challenge, before taking another bite of his candy bar. “I have to tell you something, and I know you’re going to be mad, so please take in mind that I’m being honest with you before you start breaking things.” 

“What did you do to him?” Gavin snapped, hand reaching for his gun before Elijah reached over and grabbed his wrist. Gavin fought the urge to pull the trigger anyway, it wouldn’t kill him but it would put a decent hole in his wrist. 

“It’s not like that, it’s not bad, I just know it’s... something you don’t want me knowing, or maybe anyone for that matter.” Gavin narrowed his eyes at him, taking another slow drag and Elijah sighed. “I had to go through Richard’s memories to be sure he was unaffected by the procedure. Because of that, I saw... you two.” 

Gavin clenched his jaw shut, blowing the remaining smoke from his nose and Elijah shook his head weakly at him. “I haven't seen everything, but I... I saw you kiss.” 

“You’re right. I am mad.” Gavin pushed his chair out and Elijah pulled back as Gavin took his gun from the table.  

“I knew it, see! This is why I told you! I didn’t want you to think I was hiding anything, or... whatever reason you could think of to go back to ignoring me again.” 

Gavin stared him down for a moment before he slipped his gun back in its holster and took a step around the table, taking another drag of his cigarette. “Gavin, I did you a favour, you owe me at least something.” 

“Alright, you want something?” Gavin snapped through a rush of smoke and turned quickly to face him. “How about I’m not making a comment on your fucking office design, huh? The one you instructed your damn pet to lead me into. Or the fact that you clearly still don’t think that what you did to me matters.” 

Elijah sighed and held up his hands. “Alright. I’m sorry.” 

Gavin pointed to the ground. “The only reason I brought him here is because I knew you wouldn’t let him die. The  _only_ reason, not because of us, or whatever bullshit you can think of to justify you getting my forgiveness. No, I came here because you’re good at this shit, and I knew he’d be safe with you.” Gavin waved a hand at him. “That’s it. I don’t give a shit about you, so you can stop trying to talk to me like we’re family. You fucked that up years ago.” 

Gavin began to walk away when Elijah called out to him, stopping him dead in his tracks. 

“I’m happy for you.” Elijah rushed out, casting a look over his shoulder at him. “I’m not taking any personal victory from this, I’m just happy for you.” 

Gavin closed his eyes and dropped his head, leaning in the doorway as Elijah watched him from the corner of his eye. Gavin took another drag, releasing the smoke slowly before steadying himself. 

“Why did you send him?” he asked quietly and Elijah turned to face him better, a slightly stunned and slack look sitting across his features. 

“I... Uh. I don’t know. I want to say it was a bright idea of mine but it really wasn’t.” Elijah answered honestly with a small almost uncomfortable laugh and Gavin turned to look at him. “I saw how much Connor improved your precinct and so I figured, how bad could it be?” 

“He told me you sent him to be with me.” 

“As your partner!” Elijah rushed out with a shake of his head. “I didn’t program him to fall in love with you or anything.” Elijah sighed and waved a hand between the two of them absently. “I also kind of wanted an excuse for you to talk to me, figured at some point you’d either shoot him or send him back in pieces and I’d get to talk to you again.” 

“I don’t want to talk to you.” Gavin snapped and Elijah nodded. 

“I know. And you don’t have to, ever again.” Elijah sighed. “I just... I don’t want you to hate me forever.” 

Gavin huffed and shook his head. “Then fix what you did, then we’ll talk.”   

Gavin took one last drag before throwing the butt to the floor and stepping it out, he turned and walked from the room in a rush and almost ran right into Chloe who, just as said, was waiting for him. She gave him the same sweet smile and began walking him to the elevator, Gavin followed without a word, he just wanted to get the hell out of this building and never come back. 

The ride was a small one, the doors opening on the 5th floor, Gavin knew he had been on the 30th before. He stepped out and was surprised to see Chloe hang back and push another button. She gave him a wave as the doors closed and Gavin barely had time to wave back before he the doors closed and he was left staring at the metal. 

“Okay.” Gavin sighed and began walking, the hallway wasn’t long and he could see a door at the end. He reached it easily and assumed that he was supposed to be going in, he entered and gave the room a quick look around. 

It was almost empty, walls white and floors a light grey tile. There was a bed, somewhat akin to a hospital bed, and a stand next to it that he knew was like a prop stand for androids. He’d seen a few of them at the station when they come down for maintenance, it did not look comfortable. 

“Gavin?” His attention snapped back and his head shot around to see Richard standing shirtless in a doorway, leading to what he guessed was a bathroom style room judging by the way Richard’s hair lay slightly damp across his forehead. 

“Hey,” Gavin started lamely and kicked himself for it before walking towards the other. “You’re okay.” 

Richard nodded down at himself and gave Gavin a small smile. “As far as I can tell.” 

“Good.” Gavin offered before he sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “Sorry, you almost died and I really don’t know what to say.” he shook his head and his hand dropped to his side.  “Usually when people get shot, they lay in bed for a while, not walk around half dressed and wet.” 

Richard gave him a small chuckle before shaking his head and taking a step forward into Gavin’s space. “It’s okay, you still seem a little shaken up. Have you eaten?” 

Gavin pulled the candy bar wrappers from his pockets and waved them proudly in Richard’s face, Richard simply sighed and gave him a look. 

“That does not count as food.” Gavin gave him a smirk before putting his hands back in his pockets and casting his eyes down. Richard looked him over with a frown. “Are you alright, Gavin?” 

Gavin was staring at his stomach, Richard took a chance and wrapped his fingers around one of Gavin’s wrists. Gavin looked up at him and Richard gave him a small smile. 

“It’s alright. I’m alright.” 

Richard gave his wrist a small pull before Gavin’s hand slipped from his pocket, Gavin watched as Richard moved his hand to press his palm against his stomach, just over where he’d been shot. 

“You know, it’s weird,” Gavin started, voice a little thicker than he wanted it to be but he couldn’t bring himself to care. “I’ve never thought that I’d be that scared over anyone getting hurt, let alone you.” 

Richard let out a soft noise and covered Gavin’s hand with his own. “I know.” 

“No, you don’t.” Gavin shook his head absently. 

Richard nodded down at him before running his free hand up Gavin’s arm and resting it on his shoulder, thumb tracing a line back and forth as he looked down at him. 

“I’m sorry I scared you.” 

Gavin made a noise and pulled back a little, giving Richard a guarded look. “I wasn’t scared.” 

Richard raised a bow at him. “You called your brother for help.” 

“Wha-” Gavin sighed and pulled a face. “Yeah, well. You were scared too, jackass.” 

“I know.” Richard laughed, smiling down at him. “I never said I wasn’t, in fact. I distinctly remember saying I was.” 

Gavin huffed. “That’s it, let go of me. I’m leaving you here.” 

Richard let out a quiet laugh before releasing Gavin’s hand and bringing his arms around him, he pulled him into a hug and Gavin, against his better nature, actually sank into it. 

He was tired and he’d had a real fucking long day. And he got a glimpse of his life without Richard, a real look. No ‘maybe we can work this out’ or ‘I’ll come back to you one day’. He almost died, and Gavin realized a lot about himself today. 

“I’m going to say something gross and emotional now,” Gavin started into Richard's shoulder. “But remember I’ve had a long day and I don’t mean  _any_ of it.” 

Richard let out a rushed laugh and nodded against him, moving to rest his chin against Gavin’s head. “Okay, I shall bare that in mind.” 

Gavin swallowed hard and took a few breaths to steel himself, Richard waited patiently as he tried to force the words out. 

“I don’t want to lose you... I spent all day with people telling me that I deserved to be happy and just when I started to believe them, you got hurt.” Gavin shook his head against Richard’s shoulder. “I almost lost you because of my overthinking and I... I want to be with you.” Richard pull back a little and Gavin blinked up at him. “I’m sorry I took it out on you.” 

Richard gave him a small smile and shook his head lightly. 

“It’s okay, I’m just impressed you actually listened to someone.” 

Gavin huffed and pushed Richard back. “I mean it, I will sell you to my brother.” 

“I’ll make sure you get a good price.” Gavin gave him a small laugh in return and shook his head, Richard smiled back easily. “Well, before you give me away-” 

“Sell. I’m  _selling_ you away.” Gavin corrected and Richard nodded back. 

“Yes, before you sell me.” Richard gave him a soft smile and Gavin couldn’t help but return it. “I want to do this.” 

Richard leant forward and closed the space between them, Gavin moved closer to him as their lips met, sinking easily into the kiss.  

Their kiss was slow, just like it had been the first time. Gavin made a soft noise against Richard’s mouth and pushed himself forward, hands coming to settle on Richard’s hips and he melted into his space. 

Richard broke the kiss slowly, pulling back gently and let out a soft sigh against Gavin’s lips. 

“This is the part when you tell me to leave.” Richard joked gently and Gavin let out a small laugh, a rush of breath that ghosted between them. 

“No, I’m keeping you around this time.” 

Gavin moved in and captured his lips once more, Richard smiled into the kiss and Gavin felt his arms wrap around his shoulders as they held each other close. 

Yeah, Gavin could get used to this.  

Maybe not in his brothers building. After one of them had been shot.  

Yeah, maybe not  _all_  of this. 

But being happy? Yeah. He was okay with trying this out.  

After all, he deserved it. 


	5. The Domestic Part

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for any spelling errors.... I kinda flew through this so if you spot anything, let me know! :)

May. 4th. 2039. 

Gavin sat at his desk watching Richard and Connor chat away happily in the middle of the bullpen. They’d gone back to Gavin’s after they left Cyberlife, Richard had messaged Connor to tell him he was alright and that they were taking the rest of the day off. 

No one had argued the fact. 

Today they had come into work, Connor had greeted them at Gavin’s desk before asking if he could borrow Richard to help them identify their man. Gavin took the opportunity to go down and grab all the work he’d managed to get done in the storage room the day before. 

The two who had attacked Richard had been caught, one by Connor at the scene and the other had been found a few hours later by the patrol, Hank had brought him in. 

Connor briefed him that they had been questioned but not interrogated, and they were welcome to do so if it would have been helpful to their case. They had both turned down the request, both thinking it was best to just have the men get their sentence. 

Gavin watched as Connor sent him a not so subtle glance and Richard pulled a face at his brother. Clearly talking about him, but for once, he didn’t mind. He almost wanted them to be talking about him.  

Okay, no. Scratch that. He didn’t, but he was open to Richard telling people if it made him happy. 

Kind of.  

Gavin was working on it. 

“So,” Chris’s voice came from behind him and Gavin turned in his chair to face him, the man smiling down at him a little too smugly for Gavin’s liking. “You took my advice?” 

“Actually no, I didn’t listen to you at all.” Gavin smirked back. “He almost died and then, I told him I liked him.” 

Chris rolled his eyes and shook his head. “Whatever works for you, Reed.” 

Gavin turned back as Chris walked back to his desk and looked back over to the two androids, still talking away at each other. 

“Are we actually going to get some work done? -” Gavin called across the bullpen, catching both their attention. “- Or are you two going to keep gossiping like school girls?” 

Richard sent him a look before nodding goodbye to Connor, and making his way over to his desk.  

“If I had known that our relationship would lead to you wanting to do work, I’d have kissed you sooner.” he commented with a small smirk as he sat. 

“Shut up.” Gavin grumbled and grabbed a pen on his desk, throwing it at the other. Richard caught it casually and waved it in the air at him.  

“I’m keeping this.” 

Gavin shook his head at him and began pulling up his case files. He’d managed to make a few connections in terms of names and arrest locations but nothing solid was coming through. He gathered his notes and began cross referencing the names he’d found looking through their systems, and was hoping it would bring something up. 

About an hour into searching, Richard stood and Gavin watched as he made his way into the breakroom. A minute or so later, a cup of coffee appeared next to Gavin’s phone. 

Gavin smiled up at him and shook his head. “You don’t have to do that you know.” 

“I know,” Richard nodded back, settling against the corner of his desk and bringing his hands into his lap. “But I like doing it, and it keeps you working which is always a bonus.” 

“I hate you.” Gavin chuckled, reaching for the cup and resting back in his chair. 

Richard watched him for a moment before looking down at his screen. “New lead?” 

“No,” Gavin sighed and gestured to his notes. “But I found some connections between a few names and figured, what the hell.” 

Richard hummed and reached down to grab the list, Gavin watched as he began reading through it. “Hey, no. Don’t go robo-debunking all my hard work. Let me fail on my own.” 

Richard smirked over the page at Gavin’s complaints. Gavin took another drink of his coffee before his terminal sounded off at him with an alert. Richard lowered the paper at the sound and Gavin sat forward. 

Gavin read over the screen before frowning and putting his coffee down, he looked to the side and began searching through the files and papers on his desk. 

“Something of note?” Richard asked and Gavin shook his head. 

“Maybe, these names I cross-referenced. I’ve seen half of them before.” Gavin let out a huff and slid half of his notes to one side. “I know I’ve read them somewhere but I can’t find it.” 

Richard pulled away from the desk and moved to stand behind Gavin’s chair, reading the screen over his shoulder. “They are Red Ice dealers but that’s not what they were charged with.” 

Gavin nodded and pulled a sheet from the pile. “Over the past year, these six names have come up in almost _every_ case I’ve seen. Two of them have been sentenced but the others have never been caught.” 

“I don’t follow.” Richard shook his head, reading the name from Gavin’s list and looking back to the screen. “These men may be linked together but they have never been found with Red Ice.” 

“No,” Gavin agreed. “But, they _have_ been caught stealing androids. And what do you need to make Red Ice?” 

“Thirium.” Richard confirmed. “They’re using the androids as a supply.” 

“These six men have all been caught stealing blue blood over the years, they always say it’s for their androids.” Gavin pointed to the screen as he brought up a map. “See these warehouses, they own and managed the production there; they’re business men, that’s why you can’t charge them, they always have an out.” 

Richard stood straight and moved to sit back on the edge of Gavin’s desk, Gavin turned in his chair to face him. 

“These guys are big names, they’re some of the wealthiest guys in Detroit. Their factories are shitty but they don’t employ human staff.” Gavin nodded at Richard and pointed to him. “Every now and again, an android would break or get damaged and they’d dump it. Never thought anything of it, until last year.” 

Gavin reached back and grabbed a sheet, handing it to Richard. “In six months, thirteen androids were found at a dump site used by these guys. All domestic, and all registered, but when we tracked them back to their owners. They were all missing.” 

“So, he’s stealing androids and making them work in his factory, how?” Richard shook his head. “An android can’t break its prime directive; its programming would force it to return.” 

Gavin shook his head and gave Richard a pointed look. “Not if they were deviant.” 

“So, he’s taking deviant androids and making them work,” Richard shook his head lightly and sent Gavin a thoughtful look. “It is a crime of sorts, but it’s not what we’re looking for.” 

“Read the report.” Gavin added and Richard looked through it. “These androids weren’t just damaged, they were drained.” 

“This is obviously foul play.” Richard frowned at the paper in his hand before looking up at Gavin. “How has no one looked into this before?” 

Gavin pulled a face. “Deviancy wasn’t really a thing until last year, and even then, the threat of Skynet taking over was bigger than a few dead androids.” Gavin shrugged and sent Richard an apologetic smile. “Androids weren’t people, you didn’t have the right to be murdered until six months ago.” 

Richard set down the report with a shake of his head. “So, he’s using his androids to lure the deviants in.” 

“And then he’s stealing their blood.” 

 

May. 5th. 2039. 

Gavin watched as Hank went through his notes, Connor and Richard had done their freaky hand link thing and were all caught up in seconds, so now it was just getting the humans on the same page. Gavin had decided that if this was right, they needed an extra pair of hands. 

They’d gone to Fowler and explained the theory, he’d agreed to let the four work together to see if it brought around any results. That was until Hank had listened to their case and had cut them off.  

Connor and Hank had been working a case for just over a month in homicide, a case that involved a lot of what they were talking about.  

It was a point to point match. The four had stared a little blankly at each other as it hit; they’d been working the same case. 

Gavin had asked them to all meet in one of the briefing rooms the next day and go over everything, so here they all were, sat around the table, going over each other's notes. 

“So, you think these guys are taking the androids?” Hank asked mid-way through the file. 

“Not just taking them, I think they’re luring them out with other androids.” Gavin added. 

Richard nodded beside him. “Deviancy wasn’t a public thing until last year, people didn’t know that their androids were becoming sentient,” he added. “Androids were going deviant long before it became wide spread, and we think these men saw it first-hand.” 

Hank nodded at him. “An android becomes deviant, doesn’t want to work anymore and confronts its owner.” 

Gavin leant forward and pointed to one of their factories, circled in red on the map laid out in front of them.  

“What if it started happening in their factory's, what if one or two of them stopped working and wanted out.” Gavin shook his head. “These guys are smart, they would know that they couldn't just let them go so what if they tried to get rid of them, make it look like an accident.” 

“But not before he made back some of his losses.” Hank added. 

“But it doesn’t make sense.” Connor frowned down over Hank’s shoulder at the files. “If they’re doing this, why would they need stolen androids?” 

“They don’t.” Gavin answered. “But free money is free money or in this case, blood.” 

Connor shook his head. “But why don’t they just use these androids then, why go to all the trouble?” 

“Because they need a cover.” Richard answered passing Connor a sheet. “They’re sending them together, when an android from one factory breaks, they source its Thirium and then, dispose of them together. They take all the stolen androids with it, so it doesn’t look suspicious.” 

Hank slid the file away from him and shook his head. “And how do you know that these guys aren’t just using it for their working androids?” 

“It would make sense, if they weren’t still buying it.” Gavin answered, sliding Hank a document. “They’re using the factory as a cover. It’s easy and it covers a lot of holes.” 

Gavin stood and grabbed a file from the end of the desk. “The first case we worked, that building used to belong to one of our guys. I looked into its history and it went down when the revolution hit; No androids, no business.” 

Richard nodded at him. “There was a makeshift Red Ice lab in the warehouse and the samples I took at the scene all came back positive, that warehouse was making Red Ice before it went out of business.” 

Hank shook his head as Gavin took a seat again. “This is a lot, and you know this isn’t enough evidence to break this. It’s too easy to burry.” 

“I know.” Gavin agreed. “This is why I need your help. We can work on this but it’s gunna take a lot of time, and me and Rich alone can’t keep up with this.” 

“This does connect a lot of dots.” Connor added, looking to Hank. “We’ve tried for month to explain what’s happening to these androids but it’s led to nothing, this could be it.” 

Hank nodded and pointed his own case file. “This is our current missing person. A domestic MP500 model named Luke by his owners. He was last noted to have gone deviant after the revolution. His family gave him the choice to stay or go, he left with no bad blood between them.” 

“How do we know he didn’t join the revolution?” Richard asked, looking over the photo. It was the android with his family, sat on a park bench, beaming up at the camera with a little girl pointing toward it.  

“Because six weeks ago, we found this.” Hank passed him another photo, it was a crime scene photo. A bag full of clothes and other trinkets that would have held value. “The family said that he couldn’t have just left them behind. We think someone took him and is holding him.” 

“Well then team,” Gavin nodded with enthusiasm and waved a hand over the table at their work, Richard shook his head at him and shot Connor an amused look. “We have our first case.” 

 

May. 10th. 2039. 

“This is impossible.” Gavin grumbled, throwing the file down on his desk and slumping in his chair. “These guys are fucking untraceable.” 

Richard shot him a sympathetic look from across the desk as Gavin ran his hands over his face and let out a groan into his hands. 

“How the fuck are we supposed to catch these guys if they never fucking do anything!” he whined into his hands and Richard shook his head at him. 

“Our theory was just that; A theory. For all we know, we are chasing the wrong guys and this is all coincidental.” Richard offered and Gavin threw his hands down.  

“But it’s  _perfect_. These assholes are doing  _something_ , I know it.” Gavin threw his head back against his chair. “I just can’t  _prove_ it.” 

Richard hummed and Gavin rolled his head against the back of the chair. “I hate this job.” 

“No, you don’t.” Richard smirked down at his own file. “You just hate having nothing to do.” 

Gavin groaned again and Richard let out a small chuckle. Gavin lifted his hand and waved at him grandly, a gesture to catch his attention no doubt, but Richard kept his head down. Gavin huffed and grabbed a pen from the side and raised his arm to throw it, the second his arm reached full height, Richard held up a hand. 

“Don’t even think about it.” he warned, eyes never leaving the page in front of him and Gavin looked up to the pen in his hand. 

“I don’t know, I  _really_ want to do it.” Gavin smirked as Richard lifted his head and gave him an unimpressed look. 

“If that pen hits me, you will regret it.” his voice was stern and Gavin genuinely thought about putting it down. 

But he didn’t.

Because of course he didn’t. 

The pen hit Richard in the shoulder -who didn’t even flinch- and bounced off to clatter against the desk, Gavin snorted out a laugh as the other shot a glare at him. Richard stood quickly and Gavin threw a hand over his mouth, muffled but giggled apologies spewing out from behind his fingers as Richard approached him. 

Gavin sank back into his chair as Richard came to stand at his feet, hovering over him, arms folded against his chest. 

“Do you not remember the time I cracked your head open because you wouldn’t stop annoying me?” Richard asked as he stared him down and Gavin made an indignant sound, taking his hand from his mouth.  

“You need to work on your dirty talk.” he chided back, smirk playing at his lips as Richard simply glared back at him.  

Richard uncrossed his arms slowly, casting a glance to the side, down at Gavin’s desk before reaching forward. He grabbed a half-filled cup of water, and before Gavin had time to react, promptly dumped it over Gavin’s head. 

Gavin shot up from his seat with a yell and Richard simply took a step back, mug still raised in the air as Gavin sputtered and gasped, swiping away at the water running down over his face. 

“Fuck!” Gavin gasped as he shook himself off, Richard simply smiled before placing the mug down on the desk and walking away toward the breakroom. Gavin huffed and ran a hand through his hair to stop it sticking to his forehead, he cast a glance down at his chair and let out a groan.

It was saturated. 

Richard returned and waved a towel at him. “I’ll clean the chair, go dry off your pants.” 

“Pants  _you_ ruined.” Gavin huffed out as he awkwardly shuffled his way around the desk, Richard gave him a coy smirk before shaking his head. 

“I did warn you.”   

When Gavin returned his jeans were mostly dry; there’s only so much time a grown ass man can spend effectively air humping a public hand dryer before it becomes weird.  

Richard looked him over before throwing him the towel and moving to lean on the edge of the desk as Gavin walked back to inspect his chair. 

It was dry now at least, dryer than him anyway. 

“I hate you.” Gavin let out in a huff, raising a pointed finger at him as he stood next to him and shook himself off again, running the towel over his hair. “What the hell did you do that for?” 

“I like embarrassing you.” Richard simply smirked in reply and Gavin shot him a look. “Officer Chen has so far taken three photographs of this moment.” 

Gavin’s eyes widened and he turned sharply to look, through the edges of the towel over his head he could see half the eyes of the bullpen on the two of them. Luckily Fowler hadn’t noticed yet. But just as he had been told, Tina was stood by her desk across the pen, phone held high as she looked through it at them. 

Oh boy. Add it to the list of things he was never going to live down. 

“Yeah, yeah. Alright. You had your fun.” Gavin hissed quietly as he turned back and shoved past Richard moving to practically cower behind him, away from the amused eyes of all his co-workers. “I can’t believe you did that.” 

“Are you going to work now?” Richard asked smugly and Gavin shot him a glare, yanking the towel down to his side. 

“Yes.” 

“Are you going to throw anything else at me?” 

“ _No_.” 

Richard smirked as Gavin sank down into his chair, throwing the towel to the side of his desk. He brushed at his shirt idly, sweeping away phantom water drops as Richard looked him over. 

“What?” Gavin asked, slicking his hair back and flicking his hand out a little too dramatically as if it were still soaked in water. 

“Nothing,” Richard replied easily, still watching him, eyes casting up and down his body. “I just remembered how much I missed pushing you around.” 

Gavin simply shook his head, pulling a face at his monitor. “Of course, you do.” 

 

“I still can’t believe you did that, you dick.” Gavin huffed as he shrugged out of his shirt, haphazardly throwing it to the side as he entered the bedroom, just hitting the side of the wash basket before it fell to the floor in a heap by its side. 

There was a laundry basket now.

It was in the spot previously favoured by his pile of to be washed clothes, Richard had bought it without word and simply placed it there the day before. Gavin had woken up to it sitting in the corner of his room and supposed it was more convenient, so it stayed. 

Richard didn’t comment at the lack of finesse but Gavin noted the familiar huff of air from behind him that meant he was being subtly laughed at. Gavin shot him a look from over his shoulder as he made his way to the bathroom, undoing his belt as he walked. 

He debated taking a shower but figured it could wait, he was tired and just done with the day, ready for it to end as soon as possible. It was boring, nothing happened all day, and they hadn’t found any leads in their case, again. Gavin’s eyes were tired from reading and he could tell Richard had become a little frustrated as well at their lack of productivity. 

Them coming home together was a regular thing now, Richard would simply follow him to the car and they’d go back to Gavin’s apartment, and just like every other night, he figured it wasn’t going to be anything special.  

As Gavin had learnt very early on in adulthood; life wasn’t like it was in the movies. 

There were no rushed kisses, no pawing of clothes in a heated flurry to be naked and touch each other. It was peaceful. They simply came home and went to bed.  

Richard stripped down, actually making the shot as he threw his shirt neatly into the basket, pulled on the old pair of Gavin’s sweatpants and climbed into bed like usual. He waited for Gavin to gracelessly throw himself next to him with a huff and an unintelligible groan, and wiggle around until he was comfortable before settling with his back to him.  

And then spent twenty minutes staring at the ceiling. 

Thinking. 

Gavin knew this because Richard often forgot that in the dark of a room, his LED was like a fucking strobe light. One thing Gavin had learnt in the small amount of time he and Richard had been sharing a bed together, was that androids think  _so fucking loudly_.  

Gavin noticed the flicker from behind his eyelids and had opened them to see what the hell was causing it before it clicked. He watched the flicker of the light against the ceiling; going from yellow, to red, to yellow, and around and around again, until it began to drive him a little crazy. 

He’d watched it progress, debating if he should say something or just close his eyes and let it go, maybe ask about it in the morning if he remembered. But then the longer he left it, the more prominent the changing little light began to become, until he couldn’t stand it anymore and it struck him that Richard was probably stuck in a loop. 

He sat up with a sigh and hovered over him, shooting him with a look that screamed ‘if you don’t tell me what’s wrong, I’m going to put a box over your head so I don’t have to deal with the light show anymore’ and just... waited. Richard blinked up at him for a moment, unsure as to why Gavin was moving probably, before he noticed why Gavin was looming over him and pulled a face. 

“I wanted to kiss you goodnight.” he awkwardly admitted as Gavin glared down at him. 

“That’s it?” Gavin huffed out quickly. “That’s why you’ve been conducting a mini rave for the past twenty minutes?”  

Richard had the nerve to look sheepish, even in the almost dark Gavin could see the shift of his face. 

“I didn’t know how to do it.” he added, a little defiance slipping through as he avoided looking at him. “I didn’t want to ask because I knew you’d complain about me asking, but I didn’t want to just do it because the last time I just... kissed you, you freaked out.”  

Gavin put a hand over his eyes and shook his head weakly, Richard let out a sigh and cast a look to the side, brow furring slightly as he hid his LED against the pillow. “I just wanted to kiss you.” 

“You’re an idiot.” Gavin sighed out and dropped his hand before looking down at the other. “Okay, here’s what’s going to happen. I’m gonna lay back down now. Kiss me or don’t kiss me, I don’t care. Just stop  _obsessing_  about it.” 

Gavin did as he said he would and moved to lay back down beside him. He actually waited for a moment before actually settling properly, giving Richard the chance to work up the courage to make his move. If he was going to. 

The bed was still. Richard wasn’t moving and Gavin figured ‘that was that’ and he’d maybe ask again in the morning like he’d planned to before. 

Then he felt Richard move and had to bite his lip to stifle a laugh as he felt him slowly and almost shyly hover over him.  

It was so dumb, but it made him smile for the reason it was just so stupid. Gavin waited, keeping his eyes closed until Richard eventually leaned over and quickly kissed him on the cheek - a small, almost nothing of a kiss - before laying back down and turning away, once again hiding his LED in the pillow so Gavin couldn’t judge the result of his experiment. 

Gavin tried, he really did. But he couldn’t help himself.

Gavin had no self-control. 

He laughed. 

He hid it mostly in the pillow but there was no denying the shake of the bed as he tried to silently laugh away. He felt Richard move next to him and could already imagine the frown on his face before he rolled onto his back to face him.  

Richard was sat up, glaring down at him.

It only made Gavin worse. At least his little head light was blue now. 

“I’m sorry,” Gavin laughed, unconvincingly waving a hand at him before dropping it to cover his mouth. “That was so  _not_  worth it.” 

Gavin was trying to stop, he really was, as Richard stared him down, but it wasn’t helping. The more Richard looked at him, the more he wanted to laugh. Gavin threw his hands up over his face with a shake of his head, catching most of his now uncontrollable giggles in his palms. 

“I’m sorry.” he laughed out quietly again. 

“No you’re not.” Richard answered back but Gavin could hear the amusement in his voice. 

Gavin pulled his hands down and laid them by his sides, sending Richard a bitten smile as he looked over at him. He was smiling too; it was a half-smile, an almost embarrassed crook of his mouth, but it counted well in Gavin’s book. 

“You can try again if you want?” Gavin prompted and Richard shot him a side-ways glance. 

“I’m never kissing you again.” he replied before laying back down, this time on his side facing toward him, instead of away. 

Gavin shook his head lightly and gave a small shrug. “Then you’ll never learn.” 

Richard let out small rush of a laugh before giving a heavy sigh and closing his eyes. Gavin turned on his side toward him, tucking his hand under his pillow and watching him with a crooked smile. 

“I could always teach you.” he prompted and Richard opened one eye, Gavin couldn’t help the fond smile that took over as he looked back at him. “You know, when you’re ready to kiss me again.” 

Richard let out a hum before shutting his eye again. “I’ll keep you posted.” 

Gavin gave him a shake of his head, even though he wouldn’t see it, before turning and laying on his back once more. 

There was a moment of quiet. Both of them settled and Gavin was beginning to drift off when he felt Richard shift gently beside him, and place another kiss on his cheek.  

The one was a little longer, more confident. Gavin was pretty sure that it was the last thing he remembered before falling to sleep. 

 

 _Dangerous._  

 _His mother had told him that. It was dangerous._  

 _His father had a lot of tools that they weren’t allowed to mess with but_ _Elijah_ _was different now._  

 _Smarter. Better. Different._  

 _He’s grabbing tools as he watches. Gavin knows that he’d never be allowed to mess with this stuff outside of school._  

 _Smarter._  

 _“Come on, they won’t know.”_  

 _Supposedly_ _smarter._  

 _“The last time you talked me into doing something, I ended up with a hole in my ear.”_  

 _It’s still there. Not as angry, but there._  

 _“I want to show you something.”_  

 _Trust. Excitement. Pride._  

 _He’s grabbing things, wires, circuits. He watches as he puts them all together in front of him._  

 _“Like what.”_  

 _“Like w_ _hat_   _I can make.”_  

 _He knew. He was smart_ _too_ _._  

 _Not smarter, but smart enough._  

 _“Fine.”_  

 _That smile. That joy. Big brother. He’s so proud of him._  

 _“Okay, but watch the edge, it’ll get hot.”_  

 _Protective._  

 _“Wear these.”_  

 _The glasse_ _s_ _were too big for his face but Elijah wouldn’t show him until he wore them._  

 _Big Brother._  

 _Fire. Fear._   _Sparks._   _Wonder._  

 _Wide eyes._  

 _A... Robot?_  

 _Small. Once a toy car. Maybe something else. A_ _Frankenstein's_ _monster_ _of sorts._  

 _It... beeped?_  

 _It... spoke?_  

 _Pride. A smile so big it made his face hurt. He wishe_ _d_ _he still looked at the things Eli made with that smile._  

 _“Woah. That’s awesome!”_  

 _“I know!”_  

 _So_ _happy. What happened? Why did he have to ruin everything?_  

 _“This is what they teach you?”_  

 _“Yeah, they’re teaching me everything.”_  

 _He was once so happy to hear that. What if they didn’t? What if he didn’t?_  

 _“_ _So._ _.. you can make robots now?”_  

 _He_ _remembers the excitement._  

 _“Yeah, and one day I’m going to make a real one.”_  

 _“Like a person?”_  

 _“Yeah Gav, it’ll be our sister... or brother.”_  

 _“That’s so cool.”_  

 _Pride._  

 _Excitement._  

 _Joy._  

 _Fear._  

 _Fear._  

 _Fear._  

 _Tears._  

 

May. 17th. 2039 

Gavin came too slowly, he could hear the sounds of birds chirping away outside and quickly remembered why he hated spring, fucking nature being so damn noisy. He lifted a hand to rub at his eyes as he blinked into the room, bleary eyes catching the sight of the cat curled up next to him. 

No,  _in-between_  them. 

“You should name your cat.” Richard commented from beside him and Gavin let out a huff. 

“You care that much, you name him.” he grumbled back and closed his eyes again. Five more minutes. 

Richard let out a hum and soon Gavin could hear the sound of the cat in question purring away, he cracked an eye open and looked down, catching a glance of Richard’s hand running slow strokes between the cat’s ears, but as he looked up, he saw Richard staring down at him instead. 

“Why are you  _looking_  at me?” Gavin grumbled, voice still rough with sleep and Richard simply shrugged lightly. 

“I like watching you sleep.” 

Gavin let out a huff. “That’s slightly creepy, but you do you.” 

“You have admitted to watching me sleep in the past.” Richard added with a small smile and Gavin rolled his eyes. 

“That’s different,” he corrected, waving a heavy hand at him. “I didn’t look like I was about to smother you with a pillow.” 

Richard let out a small chuckle and looked at Gavin with a raised brow. “For all you know, I am.” 

“You know, you think that’s funny,” Gavin half-heartedly glared up at him, eyes still feeling a little sticky. “But when you say it, I believe it.” 

Richard just smiled down at him as Gavin sighed and shuffled to better face the other, Richard was laid on his side, head propped up on his hand as he looked back down to the cat. Gavin looked between them both for a moment, switching from Richard’s content face and his lazy smile, to the cat's happy face, eyes closed and purring away as it leaned into Richard’s pats. 

“What about ‘Cat’?” Gavin pondered aloud as he brought a hand up to rub the sleep from his eyes and Richard let out a quiet huff. 

“You can’t call your cat ‘Cat’, I’m pretty certain that’s animal abuse.” Richard offered back and Gavin grumbled back at him. 

“No, animal abuse would be if I called him ‘Pest’,” Gavin chipped back and Richard actually moved to look down at him, face a wash of disappointment. “Well he is.” 

“You’re a pest.” Richard sighed back with a roll of his eyes and Gavin dropped his hand to his chest in mock offence. 

“This is how you treat me; your boyfriend, in his own home?”  

Richard cast a sideways glance at him before shaking his head. “You’re just a guy I sleep with.” 

Gavin let out a choked sound and Richard smirked down at him. Gavin pointed the hand from his chest at him and poked him in the head with two fingers. 

“You like me.” 

“I tolerate you.” Richard corrected and Gavin let out a huff, hand coming down and hitting the bed with a heavy thud. 

“This is the thanks I get for taking in the strays.” Gavin sighed out, staring blankly up at his ceiling, Richard let out a huff of a laugh. 

“At least you named me.”  

Gavin hummed in agreement. “You’re not wrong there, a mistake I won’t make twice.” 

Gavin moved to stretch out, arms raising above his head, fingers grazing the wall as he lazily stretched. His shoulders gave a pop and he let out a strained sound, face screwing up as he sprawled out before he settled back against the bed.  

Richard moved his hand from the cat's head and rested it against Gavin’s hip as he sank back into a comfortable position. Gavin raised a brow at him and put his hands up behind his head, resting back against them as he smirked up at the other.  

“Should I be preparing for something?” Gavin wagged his brows at him and Richard simply rolled his eyes. 

“Can we not enjoy the moment; must you ruin it.” Richard sighed and Gavin smirked up at him once more. 

“Sorry Shakespear, this is how we do mornings in this household.” Richard let out a huff of a laugh and shook his head, before moving his hand up and resting it against Gavin’s chest. He leaned down and pressed their lips together, giving Gavin a chaste kiss before pulling back and hovering over him. Gavin hummed out a content noise and nodded lightly. “A guy could get used to this.” 

Gavin blinked back up at the other and Richard gave him a smile before looking down at his hand, Gavin watched him for a moment before reaching up and covering his hand with his own. 

“Hey, you okay?” he asked quietly and Richard gave him a quick smile before nodding. 

“Yes, just thinking.” Richard answered looking back to their hands, Gavin cocked his head to the side before tapping at his hand lightly. 

“You wanna talk about it?” he asked, knowing full well that if the roles were reversed, there wouldn’t be a chance in hell. Gavin wasn’t a talker, he was a do-er. Actions speak louder than words kind of guy.  

Yes, he knew he was also very bad at that too. He had his faults. He was working on it. 

Richard hummed and Gavin felt the hand under his move, Gavin lifted his own and moved it to rest around Richard’s side, thumb grazing against his lower back as he watched him looking down at him. Richard’s fingers moved idly, tracing patterns over his skin that Gavin couldn’t follow.  

Occasionally he would stop when he came to a scar, fingers dancing around the rough edge before gently brushing over it. Gavin didn’t take his eyes from Richard’s face as he watched him follow his own hand, he looked oddly peaceful and Gavin almost hated to ruin that. 

Almost. 

“You know, as wonderful as this is, I need to eat.” Gavin stated and Richard shot him a look, hand stilling on his chest. “ _What_ , I’m not  _trying_  to ruin the moment, but us humans gotta pee and eat in the mornings.” 

Richard pulled a face. “I hope you do those separate.” 

Gavin raised his hand and swatted his arm lightly. “Shut up, you damn well know I don’t.” 

Gavin moved to prop himself up on his arms when the hand on his chest pressed down, Gavin cast a look to him as Richard looked away before shaking his head.  

“Sorry.” Richard apologised, hand easing up from where it pressed between his ribcage and Gavin gave him a frown in return. 

“You sure you’re alright?” Gavin questioned and Richard let out a small sigh. “You got something to say, say it.” 

“I want... I-” Richard cut himself off with a rush of air, a familiar frustrated noise Gavin was becoming all too used to hearing, from him  _and_  from Connor, it was the ‘I don’t understand something’ noise, and he was learning to respond to it much better now. “I want to do something.” 

“If it’s smothering me with the pillow, I’m sorry but it’s a no.” Gavin joked and shot him a coy smile, Richard took the bait and the frown on his face eased off a bit, the better suited blank look was returning as he started down at his hand upon Gavin’s chest.  

Well, he better suited a smile, but Gavin would have to crack a few more lame jokes to make that happen and he wasn't sure he was even fully awake yet, so that wasn’t really going to happen. 

“I want to try something.” Richard offered unhelpfully and Gavin shook his head. 

“You going to surprise me or you wanna tell me what it is?” he smirked up at him. “Coz you know, our track record isn’t great for you just springing shit on me.” 

There was the smile.

Gavin took a little pride in the fact that he’d managed to put it there as he watched Richard give a small shake of his head, a faint smile crossing his face. 

“You’re not helping.” Richard commented and Gavin shrugged. Richard let out a sigh and moved to sit up a little more, now leaning on his arm fully and not just on his elbow, over Gavin. “I want to... touch you.” 

Gavin raised a brow. “Touch me? Like  _touch me_ , touch me?” 

“No,” Richard rolled his eyes and Gavin smirked up at him. “Like this, touch you. I want to... explore you.” 

Gavin pulled a face. “You could not have made that sound weirder.” 

Richard let out a huff and not too gently pushed Gavin back down against the pillow, Gavin moved his hand back under his head with a roll of his eyes but didn’t complain. Richard paused for a moment and shot him an uncertain look before Gavin gave him a slight nudge with his leg, encouraging him to do whatever he wanted to. 

Was is weird? Yeah. Did Gavin mind? Not really. Was having his hot but mildly dysfunctional android boyfriend touch him up, in the most PC way possible, something he was going to turn down? Hell no. 

Gavin, for all his faults, was actually pretty good at the whole boyfriend thing. Especially when it came to Richard learning. Now Richard was no idiot. God no. He was a state-of-the-art machine, a literal killing machine, that could run faster than most cars and jump from heights of 40ft and land without a scratch. 

But he was a little lacking when it came to social cues. Gavin figured it was something in his programming, even Connor had picked up on basic human nature by simply observing people long enough, but Rickard was different. He  _was_  learning, and learning pretty fast, but he still needed moments to think things out. Like making a move or kisses goodnight. Richard was still pretty awkward when it came to the relationship stuff. 

“I like your skin.” Richard commented, pulling Gavin from his thoughts. 

Case and point. 

Gavin blinked up at him before cracking a smile. “You stopped me going for a piss to tell me that?” 

With a sigh Richard retracted his hand and waved him off, face returning to its blank state. “Go.” 

Gavin shot him a grin before hopping up from the bed and making his way to the bathroom. After doing the usual morning routine; Piss, brush teeth, contemplate a haircut while half-assedly shaving, he wandered back into the bedroom and found Richard, eyes closed and LED spinning yellow, sat back against the headboard. 

“You daydreaming over there?” Gavin asked and Richard finally opened his eyes. 

“I can’t dream.” he stated and Gavin held back the eye roll in response.  

“Yeah I know that, dumbass.” he huffed back as he pointed a finger to his own head, making a circle motion before he turned his back to the other and moved to grab a shirt from the closet. “You were giving me the thinking light, that’s all.” 

“I was thinking.” Richard responded casually and Gavin shot him a look over his shoulder. 

“You being deliberately obtuse for a reason?” he asked before looking back at his clothes and from behind him he heard Richard let out a huff. 

“Big word for you this time of the morning.” Richard replied back and Gavin turned, shirt in hand and threw it at him. 

“Yeah?” he smirked as the shirt hit Richard in the chest, knowing that he could have caught it if he tried. “I learnt from the best, or worst in this case.” 

Richard sat forward and began putting on the shirt Gavin had thrown at him, Gavin grabbed a t-shirt of his own and threw it over his head before making a move toward the end of the bed. Richard began to move as he sat down, standing and moving to the closet himself before picking out a pair of black jeans. 

Gavin watched him as he dressed, this was becoming a familiar sight. Something began nagging in the back of his head but he shook it off as Richard walked past him and made his own way into the bathroom. He was vain, that was something Gavin had learnt, Richard had a weird thing about looking himself over, even though he didn't need to.

Odly... human, in a way.

 

Coffee was the first on the agenda and Gavin watched as the pot boiled, idly tapping away at the counter. The cat was off in the corner, nipping away at the pile of food on the floor Gavin had put out, maybe it was time to get him a little bowl. 

His thinking was interrupted as Richard came up and settled behind him, reaching over his head and opening the cupboard to pull out his own mug. A hand came to rest around his middle and Gavin pressed back into the almost embrace, watching as Richard placed his own mug next to Gavin’s. 

“You joining me?” Gavin smirked back at him and Richard let out an amused huff against his head. 

“Not today, no.” 

Gavin set his attention back to pouring his coffee as Richard moved back, sliding his hand from Gavin’s waist and making his way to the fridge. The milk bottle was placed between their cups for Gavin before Richard began pouring his own drink, Gavin watched the mug fill with the blue liquid, he guessed to be Thirium, before finishing the making of his own drink. 

They rested shoulder to shoulder against the counter, Gavin watched as the cat wandered over and brushed its head against Richard’s leg. Richard watched him for a moment as he rubbed back and forth before bending down and giving him a quick pat, politely ushering it away from leaving fur all-over his shins. 

Gavin smirked as the cat simply sat in front of him and gave him a loud meow for his efforts. 

“What?” Richard replied down at it with a small shrug and the cat let out a grumble and looked toward the balcony door. “If you want to go outside, all you have to do is say.” 

Gavin snorted into his coffee cup and Richard gave him a coy smile before walking forward and heading to no doubt open the balcony door. The cat was let out, happily jumping onto the balcony and doing its usual thing of stare out across the city, before jumping down the fire escape and vanishing like Spiderman down to the city below. 

Gavin shook his head at Richard as he walked back over, pulling out a chair from his newly bought kitchen table and taking a seat.

Oh yeah, they had a table now too, a little metal round one with a grey top and two little matching chairs. Again, he’d come home and Richard was just sitting at it.  

That little nagging feeling returned, pressing in the back of his mind but Gavin ignored it, and simply waved his coffee cup in Richard's direction with a smirk. 

“You’re turning into me.” he commented and Richard feigned a shocked look, eyes going wide. 

“Oh no, the horror.” 

Gavin let out a huff of a laugh before shaking his head and taking another drink, Richard did the same and Gavin couldn’t help the moment of curiosity. 

“So, what the hell is that?” Gavin asked, nodding down at Richard’s mug. 

“Technically, it’s Thirium.” Gavin had guessed correct then. “But it’s a more diluted version, it’s simply to be sure I can run basic maintenance on mornings when I need it and keep me functioning throughout the day.” 

“So, it’s like coffee?” Gavin asked and Richard tilted his head to the side. 

“In a way, yes.” Richard nodded before looking down into the cup and rolling it in his hand, the liquid inside swilling around neatly. “It’s less of a ‘pick me up’ and more of a cleansing agent.” 

“So, you  _can’t_ drink it every day?” he corrected and Richard gave him a thoughtful look. 

“I could, but it would be wasteful. It’s simply to maintain my regular levels and help the production of the chemicals that help me run analysis and other features.”  

Oh yeah, Richard could do that shit.  

“Don’t you make it yourself?” Richard gave him a confused look and Gavin waved his cup at himself. “I mean like blood, coz it’s blood, right? Don’t you make it yourself?” 

“All androids are incapable of creating Thirium, we don’t work like humans do, we’re machines.” 

Right. Not human. For the fact that Gavin was super aware that Richard was an android, he was equally as blind. Although in his defence, he still didn’t know that much about androids and how they worked, only the little Richard had told him when he’d asked and most of that was specific to him anyway. 

“Oh.” Gavin looked down at Richard’s mug and pulled a face. “What’s it taste like?” 

Richard hummed out a small sound before looking down at his mug and giving a small shrug. “Like Thirium.” 

Gavin let out a snort and shook his head. Richard held the mug up towards him and shook it a little, Gavin blinked down at him with a frown. 

“What?” Gavin asked blankly and Richard looked between him and the cup in the air. “I can’t drink that... Can I?” 

“No,” Richard stated but the cup remained in the air. “But you can try a little, put a little on your finger.” 

Gavin stared down at the mug and its bright blue contents. It looked like something your parents tell you not to drink all through your childhood, it looked like a chemical, not a drinkable thing, something that would be labelled with a little skull and cross bones. His nose screwed up as he looked down at the other and he shook his head quickly, taking a sip of his more human friendly coffee. 

“No thanks, I’m good.” 

“It won’t hurt you,” Richard added, but pulled the mug down and placed it back on the table in front of him. “It might even get you a little high.” 

Gavin pulled a face and Richard gave him a shrug in return. “It’s half seven in the morning and you’re trying to get me stoned.” 

Richard gave him a smile. “More drunk, but yes.” 

Gavin rolled his eyes and shook his head. “You’re so fucking weird.” 

He finished his coffee a few minutes later and stood to make his way to the sink, after washing his mug and placing it to the side he turned back to ask if Richard was done with his. A frown crossed his face when he looked back to see Richard staring blanking back at him, eyes not quite meeting his but more just to the space he stood in. 

“You alright?” Gavin asked and Rickard actually blinked himself back to reality. 

“I’m fine.” Richard gave him a forced smile. Gavin knew it was forced because it was the same stupid ‘I’m okay’ smile he’d been programmed to give, he’d been seeing it a lot recently. 

Gavin leant back against the counter and crossed his arms over his chest, giving the other a questioning look in an effort to try and get whatever was bugging him out of him. Richard seemed to take in the look and gave him back a small sigh, one similar to the frustration huff Gavin could recognise in a heartbeat, and slowly placed his mug on the table. 

“I want to ask you something.” Richard stated, eyes casting almost nervously between him and his hands. 

Gavin gave a shrug. “So ask, never stopped you before.” 

“I don’t want you to become agitated.” Richard replied honestly and Gavin cast a look to the floor with a nod. “It isn’t important, I don’t need to ask.” 

“Ask me.” Gavin prompted, raising his head to look at the other. Richard was staring back at him, hands placed neatly in his lap, another nervous habit, reverting back to old programming when he didn’t know what else to do with himself. 

There was a pause, the two remained in a locked stare before Richard finally broke. 

“Are we together?” 

Woah, what? 

Gavin frowned down at him as he looked him over, genuinely taken aback by the question. Of course they were, right? What the hell kind of question was that?  

Richard pretty much lived with him, they shared a bed for fucks sake and had breakfast together every morning. He’d bought fucking furniture for Gavin’s bland apartment and his clothes were in Gavin’s wardrobe, mixed together will all his shit; he’d even made a half-joke comment a day ago about how Richard’s skinny jeans were taking over his closet one long ass leg at a time.  

They hung out and watched tv and movies, they’d recently moved onto classic 90s movies that Gavin had grown up watching and they spent most nights poking fun at the plot holes and awful CGI. 

But... then again, they hadn’t really done much else. 

Other than work together, and their sickingly domestic lifestyle, they hadn't really done much couple ‘themed’ things.  

There hadn't been a date, no dinner and wine and telling childhood stories. Gavin would fucking hate that though, and so he’s glad they don’t share fucking feelings all the damn time. Of course, Richard knew a lot about Gavin, a lot more than anyone else anyway, more than Tina at this point.  

But they make out. Like every now and again, and Richard had actually got really good at kissing, his goodnight kisses were pretty awesome. 

Gavin realized that it had been an unfortunately long time to think about such a question because Richard was now looking at him like he’d just straight up told him to get fucked, and it wasn’t a good feeling that was settling in his gut because of it. 

“Of course we are.” Gavin spat out, a little harsher than he’d wanted to and it didn’t exactly garner the reaction he wanted. 

Richard raised a brow before nodding and casting his attention back to his mug on the table. Gavin watched him for a moment before letting out a sigh and dropping his arms. 

“I meant, of course we’re together,” he started a little gentler this time, waving a hand idly between. “We’re a couple.” 

“You said I was your boyfriend.” Richard added quietly, eyes still locked onto his mug. 

“Yeah, and I meant it.” Gavin shrugged but Richard didn’t seem convinced, or at least the information was still processing as the LED on his temple ran a steady yellow as he stared at the table, probably intentionally not meeting Gavin’s eyes. 

Gavin took a bold step forward and moved to stand behind him, Richard finally looked back at him and craned his head to meet Gavin’s eyes as he looked down at him. 

“I know I’m a jackass and... I’m not a huge fan of this shit,” Gavin admitted, gingerly putting a hand on Richard’s shoulder. “But if you  _need_  me to say it, then yeah, we’re a couple.” Richard gave him a nod and Gavin tilted his head to the side a little as he watched the LED finally flicker back to blue and remain steady. “I mean, for fucks sake, you _live_  here. You bought furniture, that’s so fucking _domestic_  it makes my gut hurt.” 

Richard let out a snort, dropping his head to look around. “Your apartment is awfully bare, no organisation and minimal furniture isn’t good for you.” 

Gavin let out a scoff and stepped away from him, moving to the side and shaking his head. “You sound like an old housewife, knock that shit off.” 

Richard stood and grabbed his mug, finishing it off and taking it toward the sink. Gavin held out an arm just before he past, stopping him in his tracks before grabbing his wrist and moving the mug so he could stick his finger in it and swiped it along the side. He waved the Thirium covered finger at Richard before raising a brow and sticking it in his mouth. 

It was a grand gesture; one Gavin wasn’t used to making for anyone. He’d sure as shit never done anything like it for anyone else before. 

And it was fucking gross.  

Metallic and weird, and Gavin couldn’t help pulling a face. “Oh, fuck me.”  

Richard let out a snort of a laugh before Gavin waved him off, regret sinking in very quickly as the bitter taste settled in the back of his mouth. 

“Fuck you, see what you made me do now, ugh.” Gavin scrunched his nose and pulled his shirt up to wipe at his tongue. “There, you happy.” 

Richard placed the mug on the side and gave Gavin a firm nod of approval. “Very, your misery keeps me alive.” 

“Fucking dick, forget what I said.” Gavin huffed, throwing his shirt down from his mouth and waving a hand at him. “You and me are just partners.” 

 

May. 19th. 2039 

Richard was the polar opposite of Gavin. He was organised; clean and tidy, and he was calm and collected, most of the time anyway.  The perfect machine. 

The perfect machine that had bed head.  

Gavin had no idea androids could get bed head. 

Gavin took another bite of his toast, sat opposite to the android at their table, as he looked him over. Richard was sat, reading something on a tablet casually as he waited for Gavin to finish his breakfast. 

“How is that possible?” Gavin asked around his mouthful. 

Richard cast him a glance and gave him a questioning look. “How is what possible?” 

“Your hair.” Gavin clarified, swallowing his toast and waving the half-eaten piece a little at him. Richard’s eyes rolled up as if to see what his hair was doing and Gavin let out a snort. “Thought it was a projection or whatever?” 

Richard looked back down to him, cocking his head to the side in thought before raising a hand and running it through the messy, tangled locks. “It is, but it’s still interactive.” 

Gavin rolled his eyes. “Fucking ‘interactive’, what are you a video game character.” 

“What I mean is,” Richard began, lowering his hand. His hair was still a mess, if not worse, now sticking up slightly at the root. “My hair is still hair, it’s still touchable much like my skin.” 

Gavin let out a huff of air and shook his head before taking another bite of his toast. Richard placed the tablet on the table and began running his hand through his hair, fingers combing through it gently as he smoothed the mess away. 

“There,” he offered, hands hovering away from his head. “Better?” 

“Well I’m still confused as fuck but yeah, it looks better.” Gavin huffed out and finished his toast by shoving what was left into his mouth. 

Richard cast him a smug look before picking the tablet back up and passing his attention back too it. 

 

Androids were amazing, they were machines built to know and do things that humans would have to take years of their lives to become even acquainted with. Every time Gavin learnt something about androids, it gave him a sinking feeling in his stomach. 

He’d been almost afraid of them for as long as he could remember, from the first time Elijah had shown him the basic concept of his machines to their eventual takeover of every working field. That fear of being irrelevant, imperfect, outdated even.  

The knowledge that one day, a machine would come along and replace him and everything he’d built for himself. The perfect officers, knowledge of all the laws, strict obedience, no chance of failure. 

They were built to last; be stronger, smarter, better. Humans were made to live small and pride driven lives and hope that in the end, they had fulfilled at least one of their empty, selfish dreams. 

Androids were built to be the future, Humanity was a blur of the past. 

So, as Gavin and Richard were stood in the heavy rain, staring down at another pile of bodies, blue blood staining the earth as they lay still and wide eyed, faces frozen in a blank and frightened stare; he couldn’t help but get that sinking feeling.  

A deeper, more terrifying, bone chilling feeling that made his stomach twist and his hands clench into tight fists by his sides. 

They were helpless.  

Abandoned and discarded machines that made the mistake of wanting some humanity. If Gavin knew anything, whether it be from his own life or his time as a cop; humanity was a curse. Androids didn’t deserve to walk the same ground as they did. 

“The same as last time,” Hank’s voice cut through Gavin’s thoughts as he stared down at the lifeless mangle of parts before him. “All service models, all bled dry. We’re having forensics run the models against our missing persons and they’ll tell us if anything familiar pops up.” 

Gavin didn’t respond, eyes locked with that of what was left of one of the androids atop the pile. It had blue eyes, _vivid_ blue eyes... almost grey. 

“They won’t find anything.” his own voice sounded distant in his own ears, an unfamiliar tone he wasn’t even sure he recognised. Thick, heavy. “We fucked up.” 

A hand touched his arm and it pulled him from the stare, head slowly lifting as he looked up to face who was asking for his attention. 

Richard. Richard had blue eyes too. Lighter and paler... almost grey.  

“We did everything we could, detective.” Richard offered gently and Gavin took a moment to stare back before shaking his head. 

“No, we didn’t,” Gavin shook off his hand as he looked back to the bodies with a frustrated rush of breath. “We failed.” 

Gavin caught those hollow blue eyes again, staring empty ahead at him. They failed, again. More bodies, more dead. They were cops for fucks sake, they were supposed to have figured this shit out already. They had the files, the names, the entire operation on lockdown, and still somehow these assholes had managed to get away with it again. 

“Gavin.” Richard’s quiet voice threw him out of his head once again and he blinked himself back to reality, shaking his head lightly and turning his back on the mass grave. 

“I know, Rich.” Gavin pushed away as Richard moved toward him, holding up a hand and taking a step back. “I just... don’t need to hear it right now, alright.” 

Gavin felt eyes on the back of his head as he walked away, head low and gaze cast to his shoes as he walked back to the car. He hated this. He was supposed to help. They weren’t human, but it didn’t matter.  

He couldn’t stop thinking about how Rickard must have felt. If they were human, he’d have been in fucking pieces, wouldn’t have been able to look. It was unfair. He needed to fix it. He needed to stop it. 

He’d started this case; he was going to finish it. No matter how hopeless it seemed. 

 

Gavin heard the door to his apartment open but didn’t bother turning to look, opting instead to take another drink from the bottle he’d almost emptied and swallowing down the liquor as fast as he could, feeling the warm rush of it sinking down his throat. 

He looked down at the case files spread out in front of him on the table, the cat laid on the edge, scrunching up a couple of pages under its back legs but he didn’t care. He knew what they said, he’d read them over and over until the words didn’t seem like words anymore. 

The couch dipped as Richard sank next to him and looked over his shoulder at his work. Gavin took another drink as he waited for the comment about him obsessing or maybe even drinking himself to sleep on the couch. 

None came. Instead Richard sat shoulder to shoulder with him, gave him a silent glance over before holding out his hand. Gavin passed him the bottle wordlessly and watched with slightly swimming eyes as Richard scanned the drink over. 

Richard gave a hum of thought before raising the bottle to his own mouth and taking a drink, much like Gavin had been doing. This took him by surprise, and Gavin watched in fascination as Richard lowered the bottle and ran his tongue over his lips. 

The bottle was passed back and Gavin took it with a raised brow before shaking it a little at the other. “Thoughts?” 

He prompted and Richard gave him a small shrug before sinking back against the couch, resting his head back against the cushion. Gavin gave a huff and took another drink with a shake of his head, he let it sit on his tongue for a moment before swallowing it back, quietly enjoying the way it made his chest feel warm as it went down. 

Gavin could feel Richard’s eyes on the back of his neck as he looked down at the case once more, bottle dropping to his knees as he looked things over. Words were becoming a blur; his head was getting light now and he knew it wouldn’t be long before he just gave up and passed out on the couch. 

Maybe it was the alcohol. Maybe it was that fucking nagging feeling that was a pretty constant thing in his life right now. Maybe it was because he was just tired. 

But whatever it was, it made him thoughtful. And talkative. 

“I couldn’t stop thinking of you.” The words came out without him even thinking and he didn’t even care to stop himself. “Those fucking bodies, their faces, their eyes. I couldn’t stop thinking, ‘what if it was you?’.” 

Richard, thankfully, stayed silent as he spoke. 

“I know, it wouldn’t be. Not because I’m some fucking hero and I can vow to protect you forever like you keep doing to me.” he let out a breathy scoff. “But because you’re not... them. You’re basically a soldier and Connor’s a cop and all the others, they wouldn’t be so easily fucked with.” 

The bottle in his hand knocked against the table and it remined him that it wasn’t empty just yet. 

“We keep fucking this up.  _I_ keep fucking this up.” Gavin barely finished his mouthful before starting again. “I should have got this by now. Today... today shouldn’t have happened. Those androids... people... I should have stopped that.” 

There was a pause as Gavin became lost in his train of thought, bottle idly swinging between his fingers as he looked across the pages once more. With a sigh, he brought his free hand to his face and ran it over his eyes, resting it there in a moment of closure behind his own eyelids. 

“A good detective once told me,” Richard began quietly from behind him. “’Humans, are unpredictable. They do what the fuck they want and half the time, they do it without reason’.” 

Gavin let out an unimpressed snort and shook his head, hand falling back to his side as he cast a half-heated glare over his shoulder at the other. “Don’t fucking quote me to me.” 

Gavin rose to his feet, kicking the table away in one swift move causing the cat to scramble and jump down. It shot him an unimpressed look as it strolled away toward the balcony door, Gavin watched it walk away as he moved around the table and stood with his back to Richard. 

“This case is bullshit,” Gavin started again, voice raising as he waved the bottle around. “We fucking had them, we had them locked down and they still managed to pull this shit off!” 

Gavin shook his head with a sigh, turning slightly to catch sight of the other from the corner of his vision. “Fuck Rich, I don’t know if we can catch these assholes and I don’t know if I can fucking deal with that.” 

There was a pause before Richard sat forward, hands crossed neatly in his lap as Gavin stared down at him. 

“I still find it hard to deal with the things we see,” Richard stated, avoiding Gavin’s outburst and his unimpressed glare. “The androids that are killed, seeing them. Seeing them how you see them, as just machines-” 

“Woah, fuck you.” Gavin snapped and Richard cocked his head to the side. “I don’t see you as a machine.” 

“Really, Gavin?” 

“Yeah, of course.” Gavin scoffed and turned to better face him. “You’re not just some  _robot_ to me, do  _you_  think that’s how I see you?” 

“No,” Richard shook his head lightly. “But I am. I am just a machine. I’m parts and oils and programs.” Richard raised his hands and looked them over, fingers bending slowly as he talked. “I’m not organic, I am synthetic. Even my skin is a program, run to make me a better projection of humanity.” 

Gavin watched as the skin over Richard's fingers began to recede and revealed the shiny white chassis beneath. “Even now, as I can see it, and scan it, and even feel it. Even though I am perfectly aware that I am not real, I forget that I’m not the same as you.” 

All Gavin could do was stare as Richard looked over his own hand, watching as the skin began to reform and cover his fingers in one smooth wave. He looked back at Gavin, hand lowering back to his side slowly before he shook his head. 

“I should hate humans for what they do to us, for how they make me feel. For how I look at myself sometimes and feel wrong beside you.” 

Gavin swallowed thickly before shaking his head. “You shouldn’t... The-the way I spoke to you and treated you, before I got to know you...” 

Richard nodded before standing swiftly, in two smooth strides he was stood before him and Gavin followed his eyes as he was looked over. Richard reached over and took the bottle again, raising it and taking another drink. Gavin watched again in idle fascination as Richard swallowed. 

“Does that even work for you?” Gavin asked curiously as Richard passed him back the bottle. 

Richard shook his head. “No, but I can taste it, a little. I almost like the idea of being able to drink my problems away.” 

Gavin let out a snort. “That’s feelings for you.” 

“I wish I could help.” Richard confessed and Gavin gave him a small drunken smile. “I want to help but... I don’t know how. I can’t feel what you feel.” 

“I don’t want you to.” Gavin almost snapped, shaking his head quickly. “I don’t ever want you to feel how I feel.” 

Richard stared at him for a moment as he seemed to take in Gavin’s words before leaning forward and catching Gavin in a kiss. Gavin returned it eagerly, moving forward to better the angle and raising his free hand to Richard’s waist.  

Richard moved a hand down to Gavin’s covering it with his own before taking the bottle and putting it on the table, never once taking his mouth from the others. Gavin moved to take a hold of Richard’s wrist now his hand was free and moved it to his side, holding his hand against his hip as he pushed forward, lips parting in an effort to deepen the kiss.  

The move worked and Richard followed his lead, free hand moving up to hold the side of Gavin’s neck, nails dragging slightly through the hair at the nape of his neck. 

Gavin pulled away for a moment to catch his breath, a light laugh falling from him as he moved to rest his forehead against the others. Richard gave him a smile back and pressed forward a little, keeping the contact as Gavin let out small, light pants against his lips. 

“Tell me what to do.” Richard insisted in a rush and Gavin let out a content sigh.  

“Improvise.” Gavin laughed against his mouth with a small shake of his head. “Do what makes you feel good.” 

“I don’t know what makes me feel good.” The weight of the admission was a little too heavy, even for Gavin’s slightly intoxicated mind, so he side stepped it a little by giving Richard’s wrist a tug with another shake of his head. 

“Follow your instincts, terminator.” He teased lightly and Richard let out a huff of a laugh before capturing his mouth once more. 

Gavin felt Richard press forward, moving him back gently as not to break their kiss. It only took a few steps back before Gavin hit the counter, giving him a flashback to when they’d been in the bathroom months ago, when Gavin was all battered and bruised and Richard had pulled the same move. 

His reminiscing was cut short quickly as Richard moved his hands down, fingers running across his sides until they met his thighs, before cupping the back of his legs firmly and pulling him up. Gavin broke the kiss on instinct to grab at Richard’s shoulders as he was lifted onto the counter and Richard took a step forward into the space between his legs. 

Gavin let out a huff of a laugh and Richard pulled back to give him a look, Gavin shook his head before patting lightly at his chest with a coy smile. 

“Didn’t see that coming.” He joked and Richard gave him a slanted smile of his own before moving a hand up to run through Gavin’s hair and pulling him back into a kiss. 

Gavin’s hand curled around the collar of Richard’s shirt, other moving down to hold at his waist. The hand on his leg was moving up slowly, thumb drawing lazy circles on the inside of his thigh. 

“Not that I’m not enjoying this,” Gavin smiled as he broke the kiss, soft spoken words against Richard’s mouth. “But if we’re finally gunna fuck, I wanna be sober and not on the kitchen counter.” 

He smiled and Richard leaned in to capture another quick kiss before pulling back and letting out a hum of agreement. “Tomorrow then.” 

“Tomorrow.” Gavin agreed with a slanted smile. “I wanna make it good for you.” 

“Good thought,” Richard gave him his own coy smile in return. “Afterall, I wouldn’t want you to break down in drunken tears after I’m done with you.” 

Gavin let out a noise and hit him in the chest. “Fuck you.” 

Richard pulled him forward in a rush and Gavin on instinct threw his arm around Richard’s neck, hand gripping his shirt collar as he was lifted from the counter. Gavin crossed his ankles, locking his legs around Richard’s hips as he was held up from the ground, casting a quick glance to the floor before looking back at the other with an impressed smirk. 

“Well this gives me ideas.” he stated with a raised brow and Richard simply gave him a crooked smile. 

“I know, Officer Chen has told me all about them.” 

Gavin let out a huff and rolled his eyes. “Fucking traitor.” 

“Don’t be offended.” Richard smiled, finally moving and making his way toward the bedroom, holding Gavin’s weight like it was nothing, well it probably was. “Miss Chen can be quite creative when she’s thinking about us, you may want to thank her someday.” 

Gavin stared back at him, eyes wide but before he could open his mouth to speak, he was promptly dumped – gracelessly - on his back onto the bed. Richard smirked down at him as Gavin huffed, swiping a hand up to push back the hair that had fallen across his eyes. 

“Well aren’t you a romantic.” Gavin huffed, scrambling slowly back up the bed and sinking into the pillow. 

“Don’t fall asleep in your clothes.” Richard commented from across the room and Gavin simply raised an arm and gave him the finger in response. “Now who’s the romantic.” 

“Me.” Gavin smirked to the celling. 

“You’re definitely drunk.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!  
> Sorry I haven't updated in a WHILE everyone. Basically my life has just gone kinda crazy, pretty much since November I've had nothing but bad luck, and my life has become something outta a teen dram, nothing but bad and sucky things have happened to me for the past three months and so I've had to take some time to relax and get my self back in one piece!  
> I kinda lost my motivation to write anything for a bit there... but I'm back now, and I'm gunna get back into it.  
> Hope you're all doing well! <3


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